It was at a late hour on the night of this concluding tragedy
that I learned the amazing truth underlying the case. Wessex was
still at work in the East End upon the hundred and one
formalities which attached to his office, and Harley and I sat in
the study of my friend's chambers in Chancery Lane.
"You see," Harley was explaining. "I got my first clue down at
Deepbrow. The tracks leading to the motor-car. They showed--to
anyone not hampered by a preconceived opinion--that the girl and
Vane had not gone on together (since the man's footprints proved
him to have been running), but that she had gone first and that
he had run after her! Arguments: (a) He heard the approach of
the car; or (b) he heard her call for help. In fact, it almost
immediately became evident to me that someone else had met her at
the end of the lane; probably someone who expected her, and whom
she was going to meet when she, accidentally, encountered Vane!
The captain was not attired for an elopement, and, more
significant still, he said he should stroll to the Deep Wood, and
that was where he did stroll to; for it borders the road at this
point!
"I had privately ascertained, from the postman, that Molly
Clayton actually received a letter on that morning! This
resolved my last doubt.
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