development, to wear stockings too large for her feet, and gave a
general description of hair, cast of face, height, and weight that was
valuable, because minute.

"When he gave this statement he was not aware of the death of his wife,
or of the finding of her body, and without being informed of either fact
he was taken to Jersey City, and suddenly confronted with the head. The
instant he saw it he sank into a chair in horror.

"His statement having been compared with the head and the record of the
body, the similitude was found to be exact, except as to the teeth. The
head had one tooth missing on each side of the mouth, and this fact
having been called to his attention, Ricard insisted that she had lost
but one when he last saw her, but it was highly probable the other had
been forced out in the struggle which robbed her of her life, and the
physician, for the first time making a minute examination, found that the
tooth upon the right side had been forced from its place, but was still
adhering to the gum. He easily pushed it back to its proper position,
and there was the head without a discrepancy between it and the
description of Ada Ricard.

"The Detectives found other witnesses, and among them the hair-dresser
who had acted in that capacity for Ada Ricard during many months, who, in
common with all the others, fully confirmed the evidence of Charles
Ricard. The identity of the murdered woman was therefore established
beyond question.

"Naturally the next step was to solve the mystery of her death. The
Detectives went to work with unusual caution, but persisted in the task
they had assigned themselves, and were slowly gathering the shreds of her
life, to weave from them a thread that would lead to the author of her
tragical death, when they were suddenly 'floored,' to use their own
energetic expression. Ada Ricard herself appeared at a down-town New
York hotel, in perfect health and unscathed in person.

"The explanation was simple. The whim had suddenly seized her to go to
New Orleans; and she had gone without leave-taking or warning. It was no
unusual incident in her wandering life, and her speedy return was due
only to the fact that she found the Southern city only a military camp
under the iron rule of General Butler, and therefore an unprofitable
field for her.

"The ghastly head became more of a mystery than before. The baffled
Detectives could again only look at it helplessly, and send descrip