e you to say now?"

"That I am most profoundly indebted to you for having enabled me to
prove what has happened, and also that you have so soon let me know that
we are not alone." Mr. Barnes bit his lip at this taunt, and Mr.
Mitchel, turning to the doctors, continued, "Gentlemen, I am delighted
to know that you have overheard what has occurred. You may be called
upon to give testimony. If you will remember, I think that you will
admit that Mr. Barnes asked me who this woman is. Correcting his
grammar I replied, 'She was Rose Mitchel.' Am I accurate?"

"Quite so," said one of the doctors.

"Mr. Barnes claims that I have admitted that I knew the woman. I claim
that I have merely admitted that I knew her name, which is a very
different thing."

"You admitted more than that," said the detective testily, "for you must
have known more than her name to be able to give a name to this dead
body."

"You are quite right, Mr. Barnes, I must also have known her face. In
the same way I know both name and face of Lillian Russell. Were I to
identify her dead body, would that prove that I was a personal
acquaintance?"

"Certainly not, but you cannot claim that this woman was known to you in
that way, for she was not a public character."

"How do you know that?"

"Well then, was she?"

"That is another question, and I decline to answer it, at least before
witnesses. If you will walk with me as far as my hotel I will do the
best I can to explain to you how I could identify this corpse without
having been acquainted with the woman herself."

"Of course I will go with you, for explain this you must"; and together
the two men left the building.

They walked across to Fifth Avenue and down that thoroughfare for
several blocks in silence. Mr. Mitchel was evidently thinking over the
position in which he found himself, and Mr. Barnes was satisfied not to
hasten the explanation. He thus gave himself time to make a few mental
notes, which if written down would have read as follows:

"Why did both of these men start when I said that the jewels were hidden
off the train. It might be because both knew that to be a fact. If a
fact, Thauret might have known it, because he himself may be the thief.
In that case, either Mitchel is an accomplice, or he saw the other man
hide the satchel at some station. Could Mitchel himself have hidden the
satchel? How could he have done so when I watched his section all night,
unless of course I fell as