“Then he carried her into room B, and put her in that chair.

“At that moment Corbut entered, for the door of room B was not locked.

“In some way they bribed him to keep silence.  They sent him into room A, where he locked the connecting door on that side.

“Jones fastened it on the side of room B and fled.  It was then that Gaspard saw him coming out of room B. And that’s what mixed the case so badly.

“It gave us the wrong arrangement of men in those rooms.  That was the only reason why I ever doubted Jones’ guilt.  I was convinced that the man who had brought the woman to the house was not the man who had shot her.

“You did not know, Mr. Hammond, that when you told me, in my house, that you were the man in room A, that you practically confessed to being the murderer.”

At these words, Hammond gave a dry and painful gasp.  He saw what an escape he had had.

“As to the two women,” Nick continued, “it is easy to read the secret.

“Jones had two wives.  The real wife, now dead, lived in the flat the address of which Jones gave me.  This woman lived in the Fifty-eighth street flat, where Corbut was murdered.

“Jones divided his time between them.  He really loved this one and wished to be rid of the other.

“His true wife surprised his secret at last, and it led her to her death.

“That night after the murder the plan was formed by which this woman was to personate the other.  The striking similarity in the hair, which was the most conspicuous beauty of each, suggested the plot.

“Perhaps Jones had thought of such a thing long before.  That may have led him to keep his real wife practically unknown in this city, while he was frequently seen with this woman.

“As to the dresses, this woman, who is a very clever dressmaker, as I am told, doubtless had time to copy the other’s costume in the night and the day following the crime.

“She did most of the work in Albany, where she went as soon as possible.  Then wearing the duplicate dress, she went to her friends in Maysville, and afterward came here.

“Is it all plain now?”

“It is clear as a bell, Mr. Carter,” said the superintendent.

“Wait a moment!”

It was the woman’s voice.  She spoke calmly, and looked straight into Nick’s face.

“You have made one grave error,” she said.  “It was not John who killed that woman; it was I.

“She tried to shoot him, and I wrenched the pistol from her hand.  I shot her dead.

“The plot was all mine.  It was I who bribed Corbut.  It was I who killed him.

“John brought him to our flat.  I sent my husband away, and when he returned a few minutes later, Corbut was dead.  John had no guilty hand in either crime.

“He fainted at the sight of Corbut’s body.  When he came to himself, the body was no longer to be seen.  I had put it into the trunks.  It was I who afterward sent them to Gaspard.