cushion that served
as pillow. There was a looseness of attitude that instantly struck
Inspector Val; he stepped to the San Reve and lifted the free hand which
hung by her side. The hand was clammy and cold as ice. The San Reve had
died when Storri died, but there was none of the rigidity of death, the
body was relaxed and limp. Inspector Val sniffed the air inquisitively,
and got just the faintest odor of bitter almonds. That, and the relaxed
limbs, enlightened him.

"Prussic acid," said he.

As Inspector Val replaced the San Reve's hand by her side, a tiny
vial--that with a prayer-book--was dislodged from a fold of her dress.
The vial showed a few drops of a yellow-green fluid in the bottom.
Inspector Val picked it up, and the bitter breath of the almond was more
pronounced than ever.

"Exactly!" murmured Inspector Val; "prussic acid! She died as though by
lightning;--which is a proper way to die if one's mind is made up. Now
why couldn't she have sent Storri by the same route? A drop of
this"--here he surveyed the tiny vial with interest, almost with
approval--"a drop of this in the corner of his eye, or on his lip, would
have beaten the pistol. Ah, yes, the pistol!" mused Inspector Val,
taking the baby weapon in his hand; "I suppose the storm drowned the
report. Well, they're gone! Storri was asleep, and never knew what hit
him; which, considering his record,--and I'm something of a judge,--was
an easier fate than he had earned."

Inspector Val made a close examination of the room, rather from habit
than any thought more deep, and straightway discovered the sleepy
whisky. He put it to his nose as he had the tiny vial.

"Laudanum!" he muttered; "she had mapped it out in every detail. It was
the sight of the _Zulu Queen_; she saw that he was about to desert her."

Inspector Val heaved a half-sigh, as even men most like chilled steel
will when in the near company of death, and then, stiffening
professionally, he called in Mr. Warmdollar, still weeping drunken tears
at the stair's foot.

"I want, for your own sake," explained Inspector Val, "to impress upon
you the propriety of silence. These deaths will produce a sensation in
both the State Department and the Russian legation. If word get abroad
through you, it might be resented in the quarters I've named. I shall
give the Russians notice, and you must not let a word creep into the
papers until after they have been here. If news of this leak out, it may
cost M