31430 A small but well-kept house in the outskirts of the town sheltered the bereaved mother.
31431 The old lady was too dazed with grief to be of any use to us, but at her side was a white-faced young lady, who introduced herself as Miss Violet Westbury, the fiancée of the dead man, and the last to see him upon that fatal night.
31432 'I cannot explain it, Mr Holmes,' she said.
31433 'I have not shut an eye since the tragedy, thinking, thinking, thinking, night and day, what the true meaning of it can be.
31434 Arthur was the most single-minded, chivalrous, patriotic man upon earth.
31435 He would have cut his right hand off before he would sell a State secret confided to his keeping.
31436 It is absurd, impossible, preposterous to anyone who knew him.'
31437 'But the facts, Miss Westbury?'
31438 'Yes, yes, I admit I cannot explain them.'
31439 'Was he in any want of money?'
31440 'No, his needs were very simple and his salary ample.
31441 He had saved a few hundreds, and we were to marry at the New Year.'