All this took time, and at last, on April 28th, 1895, poor old Bott died in his boarding-house in Hoboken.  After the funeral the widow settled up her affairs, changing her boarding place temporarily, and, having no ties in this country, determined to return to end her days in the Fatherland.  On May 21st she wrote to Flechter, who had lost all track of her, that her husband had died, that she had moved to 306 River Street, Hoboken, and that she thought seriously of going back to Germany.  Two days later Flechter wrote the following letter to the Central Office man, who had given his name as Southan, an employe of the alleged Mr. Wright: 

    MR. SOUTHAN, care of H. P. Durden.

    Dear Sir:  Write to inform you that I have a genuine Strad. to
    offer you and would like to see you at your earliest convenience.

    Very respectfully yours,

    VICTOR S. FLECHTER.

When Allen saw this letter it seemed to him absolutely to confirm his suspicions.  Now that the only person in the world who had been authoritatively able to identify the “Duke of Cambridge” Stradivarius was dead, Flechter was offering one for sale.

Then occurred the strangest thing of all.  On May 28th, five days after Flechter’s letter to Southan, Mrs. Bott received the following extraordinary epistle.  Like the notice given her by Flechter in his office, it was partly written in printed capitals and partly in script.

    May 28, 1895.

    To MRS. BOTT, 306 River Street, Hoboken, N. J.

Dear Madam:  I wish to inform you that the violin taken from your house some time ago will be returned if you are willing to abide by agreements that will be made between you and I later on.  It was my intention first to dispose of it, but on account of its great value and the danger it would place me in by offering for sale being a violin maker and dealer and not being able to sell with safety for such a large sum of money I concluded to wait.  I have now thought the matter over and come to the conclusion that a little money is better than none and if you are anxious for the return of the violin and willing to pay a sum of money, small compared with the value of the violin, I think we can make a deal.  You can put a personal in the New York Sun saying I am willing to give a sum of money for the return of the violin.  No questions asked.  Mrs. J. Bott.  When I see your personal in the Sun I will let you know how the exchange can be made.  CAVE DWELLER.

This letter appeared to be written in a somewhat similar hand to that which penned the offer of the reward, which, according to Mrs. Bott, was Flechter’s.  By this time the widow and Allen, were in close communication.  The “Cave Dweller” letter, could it be shown to be in Flechter’s penmanship, seemed to fix the crime on the violin dealer.