And what did I find inside?
Something so different from what I expected, something so trivial
and seemingly harmless, that it was not until I recalled the final
words of Uncle David's memorandum that I realized its full import
and the possibilities it suggested. In itself it was nothing but
a minute magnifying glass; but when used in connection with - what?
Ah, that was just what Uncle David failed to say, possibly to know.
Yet this was now the important point, the culminating fact which
might lead to a full understanding of these many tragedies. Could
I hope to guess what presented itself to Mr. Moore as a difficult
if not insolvable problem? No; guessing would not answer. I must
trust to the inspiration of the moment which suggested with almost
irresistible conviction:
The picture! That inane and seemingly worthless drawing over the
fireplace in The Colonel's Own, whose presence in so rich a room
has always been a mystery!
Why this object should have suggested itself to me and with such
instant conviction, I can not readily say. Whether, from my
position near the bed, the sight of this old drawing recalled the
restless nights of all who had lain in face of its sickly smile,
or whether some recollection of that secret law of the Moores
which forbade the removal of any of their pictures from the
time-worn walls, or a remembrance of the curiosity which this
picture excited in every one who looked at it - Francis Jeffrey
among the number - I no sooner asked myself what object in this
house might possibly yield counsel or suggest aid when subjected
to the influence of a magnifying glass, than the answer, which I
have already given, sprang instantly into my mind: The picture!
Greatly excited, I sprang upon a chair, took down the drawing from
the wall and laid it face up on the bed.
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