When artfully worked, this deceit may always be relied upon to create undeserved sympathy.
Were there nothing else to absolve Mrs.Collins from the suspicion that she was responsible for Whitmore's death, the absence of motive would have proclaimed her innocence.

She loved him.

She was ready to discard her husband for him.

She and her brother were looking to him to save them from financial ruin.

No, she had nothing to gain and everything to lose by the merchant's death.
With this conclusion fixed in his mind, Britz arrived at the office of the United States District Attorney.
"Where is the deputy who took the convict, Arthur Travis, to Atlanta ?" he inquired.
Wells, the district attorney, smiled musingly.
"Resigned day before yesterday," he replied.