"I only said, 'Why?'" said Mr. Quin.
Evesham frowned in an effort of memory. "It didn't seem vital--at the
time. Oh! of course--the post. Don't you remember that jangling bell,
and how excited we were? We'd been snowed up for three days, remember.
Biggest snowstorm for years and years. All the roads were impassable.
No newspapers, no letters. Capel went out to see if something had
come through at last, and got a great pile of things, newspapers and
letters. He opened the paper to see if there was any news, and then
went upstairs with his letters. Three minutes afterward, we heard a
shot. Inexplicable--absolutely inexplicable."
"That's not inexplicable," said Portal. "Of course the fellow got some
unexpected news in a letter. Obvious, I should have said."
"Oh! Don't think we missed anything so obvious as that. It was one
of the Coroner's first questions. _But Capel never opened one of his
letters._ The whole pile lay unopened on his dressing-table."
Portal looked crestfallen. "You're sure he didn't open just one of
them? He might have destroyed it after reading it?"
"No, I'm quite positive. Of course, that would have been the natural
solution. No, every one of the letters was unopened. Nothing
burned--nothing torn up. There was no fire in the room."