out of a foolish fit of jealousy.

"You see, I found a _petit bleu_ on my husband's dressing table one
morning--I wish to Heaven he would be more careful--and I--I read it. It
began '_Mon gros bebe_,' and was signed '_Ta petite Anita_,' and--naturally
I was furious. I have often been jealous of Addison, but he has always
managed to prove that I was in the wrong and that he was a perfect saint,
so now I determined to see for myself. It was a splendid chance, as the
exact rendezvous was given, nine o'clock Saturday evening, in private room
Number Seven at the Ansonia. I had only to be there, but, of course, I
couldn't go alone, so I got this man, Martinez--he was a perfect fool, I'm
sorry he's been shot, but he was--I got him to take me, because, as I told
you, he didn't know me, and being such a fool, he would do whatever I
wished."

"What day was it you found the _petit bleu?_" put in Coquenil.

"It was Thursday. I saw Martinez that afternoon, and on Friday, he reserved
private room Number Six for Saturday evening."

"And you are sure it was _his_ scheme to bore the holes?"

"Yes, he said that would be an amusing way of watching Addison without
making a scandal, and I agreed with him; it was the first clever idea I
ever knew him to have."

"That's a good point!" reflected Coquenil.

"What is a good point?"

"Nothing, just a thought I had," he answered abstractedly.

"What a queer man you are!" she said with a little pout. She was not
accustomed to have men inattentive when she sat near them.

"There's one thing that doesn't seem very clever, though," reflected the
detective. "Didn't Martinez think your husband or Anita would see those
holes in the wall?"

"No, because he had prepared for that. There was a tall palm in Number
Seven that stood just before the holes and screened them."

Coquenil looked at her curiously.

"How do you know there was?"

"Martinez told me. He had taken the precaution to look in there on Friday
when he engaged Number Six. He knew exactly where to bore the holes."

"I see. And he put them behind the curtain hangings so that your waiter
wouldn't see them?"

"That's it."

"And you held the curtain hangings back while he used the auger?"

"Yes. You see he managed it very well."

"Very well except for one thing," mused Coquenil, "_there wasn't any palm
in Number Six_."

"No?"

"No."

"That's strange!"

"Yes, it _is_ strange," and again she felt that he was following a