As the taxi rolled up to her corner I saw that the windows of her floor were bright. She was still up, which would make things easier—much better than having to wake her from her sleep. In that sort of apartment they lock the outer doors at half-past ten and to get at the bells you have to wake the janitor¹, which I didn't want to do, as no one must know I'd been there. So before I rang the outside bell that connects with his lair² in the basement, I tried the door, hoping some late comer had left it on the jar as they sometimes do. It opened—an immense piece of luck—which made me feel that fate was on my side and braced³ me like a tonic⁴.  
In the vestibule I pressed the button under her letter box and in a minute came the click, click of the inner latch⁵ and I entered. As I ascended⁶ the stairs I heard the door on the landing above softly open and looking up I saw a bright light illumine the dimness and then, through the balustrade, her figure standing⁷ on the threshold.
 
She must have been surprised for the person who mounted into her sight—a girl in a dark coat and hat—was someone she'd never seen before. She pushed the door wider, as if to let more light on me, looking puzzled at my face. The one electric bulb was just above her on the wall and its sickly gleam fell over her, tall and straight in a purple silk kimono. Her black hair curling back from her forehead stood out like a frame, and her neck, between the folds of the kimono, was as smooth and white as cream. The sight of her instead of weakening me gave me strength, for in that sort of careless rig, tired and pale, she was still handsome enough to make a fool of any man.
 
"Do you want to see me?" she said, "Miss Whitehall?"
 
"I do," I answered. "I want to see you on a matter of importance. It can't wait."
 
Without another word she drew back from the doorway⁸ and let me come in.
 
"Go in there," she said, pointing up the hall to the curtained entrance of the dining-room, and I went as she pointed⁹.
 
The room was brightly lit, as was the parlor¹⁰ beyond, and on every side were the signs of moving—curtains piled below the windows, furniture in white covers, straw and bits of paper on the floor. Two trunks were standing in the middle of the parlor and on the chairs about were her clothes, all tumbled and mixed up, boots in one place, hats in another, lingerie heaped on the table. There was enough packing to keep her busy till morning, and I thought to myself that was what she intended to do—finish it up tonight and the next day make her move.
 
All this took only a minute to see and I was standing by the dining-table, clutching tight on my muff to hide the trembling of my hands, when she came in. In the brighter light I could see that she looked worn and weary, all her color gone except for the red of her lips, and her eyes sunken and dark underneath¹¹.
 
"What do you want with me?" she said, as the curtain fell behind her.
 
Her manner was abrupt¹² and straight from the shoulder like a person's who's got past little pleasantnesses and politeness. The glance she fixed¹³ on me was steady and clear, but there was a sort of waiting expectation in it like she was ready for anything and braced to meet it.
 
"I came," I said, choosing my words as careful as I could, "to tell you of—of—something that's going to happen—to warn you."
 
She gave a start and her face changed, as if a spring inside her had snapped and sort of focussed her whole being into a still, breathless listening.
 
"Warn me," she repeated. "Of what?"
 
"Miss Whitehall," I said, clearing my throat, for it was dry, "I'm a person you don't know, but I know you. I've been employed by people here in New York who've been watching you for the past few weeks. They've got the evidence they want—I've been helping¹⁴ them—and they're ready to act."
 
As I had spoken she had never taken her eyes off me. Big and black and unwinking they stared and as I stared back I could see it wasn't surprise or fear they showed but a concentrated attention.
 
"What do you mean—act in what way?"
 
"Get you to their office tomorrow and question you about the Harland case and make you confess."
 
She was as still as a statue. You'd have thought she was turned to stone, but for the moving up and down of her chest.
 
"What am I to confess? What have I done?"
 
My hands gripped together in my muff and my voice went down to my boots for I couldn't say it aloud.
 
"Been a party to the murder of Hollings Harland."
 
When I said it I had an expectation that she'd say something, deny it in some violent way that would make me think she was innocent. Maybe Jack¹⁵ Reddy had influenced me, but I wanted it, I looked for it, I hoped for it—and I was disappointed. If it had been a shock to her, if she hadn't known there'd been a murder, she would never have behaved as she did. For she said not a word, standing stock still, her face chalk white, even the red fading from her lips, and her eyes fixed on the wall opposite, like the eyes of a sleep-walker.
 
"The murder of Hollings Harland," she whispered, and it was more as if she was speaking to herself than to me.
 
"Yes," I went on. "They've discovered it—a group of us have been working in secret, following the clues and gathering¹⁶ the evidence. Now we've got it all ready and tomorrow they expect to arrest you."
 
She suddenly sank down into a chair by the table, her hands braced against its edge, her eyes riveted¹⁷ in that strange, mesmerized¹⁸ stare on the fern plant in front of her.
 
"When did they discover it?" she said in a low voice.
 
"Not long after it happened—but that doesn't matter. They've got everything in their hands. Even if you insist that you're innocent they've got enough to arrest you on. You've been under surveillance all along—they've been shadowing you. They followed you that time you tried to go to Toronto."
 
"I knew that," she said in the same low voice as if she was talking to herself.
 
"They know how you came out of the building that night—not by the elevator as you said, but by the stairs, and how you didn't get home till nearly eight. They know about you and Barker."
 
She lifted her head and said quickly:
 
"What do ............