"
"I am correct in my facts, if that is what you mean," said I.
"The stiletto is an English heirloom, and bears on its blade,
among other devices, that of Mr. Grey's family on the female
side. But that is not all I want to say. If the blow was struck
to obtain the diamond, the shock of not finding it on his victim
must have been terrible. Now Mr. Grey's heart, if my whole theory
is not utterly false, was set upon obtaining this stone. Your eye
was not on him as mine was when you made your appearance in the
hall with the recovered jewel. He showed astonishment, eagerness,
and a determination which finally led him forward, as you know,
with the request to take the diamond in his hand. Why did he want
to take it in his hand? And why, having taken it, did he drop
it--a diamond supposed to be worth an ordinary man's fortune?
Because he was startled by a cry he chose to consider the
traditional one of his family proclaiming death? Is it likely,
sir? Is it conceivable even that any such cry as we heard could,
in this day and generation, ring through such an assemblage,
unless it came with ventriloquial power from his own lips? You
observed that he turned his back; that his face was hidden from
us. Discreet and reticent as we have all been, and careful in our
criticisms of so bizarre an event, there still must be many to
question the reality of such superstitious fears, and some to ask
if such a sound could be without human agency, and a very guilty
agency, too.
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