left. When he had gone, Trafford turned to Mrs. Parlin and asked:
"When do you think Mr. Wing intended writing that letter, if he hadn't written it at ten minutes after midnight?"
"He must have changed his mind, after all," she answered.
"Evidently, he did," he said.
Then he took up the matter of Judge Parlin's confession.
"I do not wish to pain you," he said, "but I would not be justified in letting that drop without going into it further. Have you any suspicion who Theodore's mother was—or is, since she is still living, or was between five and six years ago?"
"I haven't the faintest suspicion," she said. "But surely this has been raked open enough. You can let that wound heal."
"I can let nothing heal," he said. "I don't for the life of me see how that can have anything to do with this murder, but that's no reason I may not find that it has lots to do with it. At any rate, I must find her out."
