Now, the impressions upon the second cushion and the thin ridge between them were just the impressions which might have been made by a pair of shoes held close together.

But that would not be a natural attitude for any one, and the mark upon the head cushion was very deep.

Supposing that my conjectures were true, then a woman would only lie like that because she was helpless, because she had been flung there, because she could not lift herself--because, in a word, her hands were tied behind her back and her feet fastened together.

Well, then, follow this train of reasoning, my friend! Suppose my conjectures--and we had nothing but conjectures to build upon-were true, the woman flung upon the sofa could not be Helene Vauquier, for she would have said so; she could have had no reason for concealment.

But it must be Mlle.Celie.There was the slit in the one cushion and the stain on the other which, of course, I had not accounted for.