And this accounted also for the overturned
chair, and for the handkerchief used as a duster. Some one's
interest in this picture had been greater than mine; some one who
was either very near-sighted or whose temperament was such that only
the closest inspection would satisfy an aroused curiosity.
This gave me an idea, or rather impressed upon me the necessity of
preserving the outline of these tell-tale marks while they were
still plain to the eye. Taking out my penknife, I lightly ran the
point of my sharpest blade around each separate impression till I
had fixed them for all time in the well worn varnish of the mahogany.
This done, my thoughts recurred to the question already raised. What
was there in this old picture to arouse such curiosity in one bent on
evil if not fresh from a hideous crime? I have said before that the
picture as a picture was worthless, a mere faded sketch fit only for
lumbering up some old garret. Then wherein lay its charm, - a charm
which I myself had felt, though not to this extent? It was useless
to conjecture. A fresh difficulty had been added to my task by this
puzzling discovery, but difficulties only increased my interest. It
was with an odd feeling of elation that, in a further examination of
this room, I came upon two additional facts equally odd and
irreconcilable.
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