of which was old
and soft, he found the bullet.

"The mark was covered when the door was shut. Therefore the door must
have been open when the shot was fired.

"The position of the bullet shows that the shot was fired from room A.
Then the woman, for some reason, had got into that room. She had
unlocked the door on her side and had managed to induce the persons on
the other side to slip their bolt.

"Now, why did she do this? Of course there is only one answer. Jealousy
was her motive. The man in room A was her husband.

"I have satisfied myself of that. She must have known that he was going
to dine in that house with another woman.

"It is clear that she made the acquaintance of Hammond because she was
determined to get into that restaurant, and women are not admitted
alone.

"The dropping of the purse was, of course, a very simple trick. She had
noticed Hammond behind her, and as he was evidently a gentleman, she
decided to use him for her purpose.

"You have heard how she led him to the restaurant. Of course it was only
by chance that they got the room next to that in which her husband was.

"Hammond has told how she listened to the voices, and how she got rid of
him.

"What followed can be easily understood. She got into room A. She drew
her pistol and attempted to shoot either her faithless husband or his
companion.

"Jones disarmed her and shot her with her own pistol.

"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