Page:Miss Madelyn Mack Detective.pdf/103

daughter's college days—Nora, will you kindly pour Mr. Van Sutton a little of that brandy? Thank you!"

Madelyn did not change her position as the owner of "The Maples" gulped down the liquor. She waited until he had finished, her chin still on her hand, her eyes never shifting.

"Let me give you the explanation of our mystery in a few words, Mr. Van Sutton. The wedding ceremony of Wednesday night was not performed because your daughter was already a wife! Norris Endicott disappeared from 'The Maples'—eliminated himself—to save her from one of the most agonizing alternatives that ever confronted a woman!"

Behind me, I heard Detective Wiley give a cry of sudden comprehension.

"Incredible, impossible as it may seem, Miss Van Sutton did not know of the barrier to her marriage until the ceremony was less than an hour distant. What she would have done under other circumstances I don't know. It was the man, who was waiting to lead her to the altar, who came to her rescue!"

Madelyn spoke in as emotionless a tone as though she were discussing the weather. There was even a bored note in her voice as though the glamour of the problem had left her—with its solution.