g found in the murdered
woman's hand--a warning which had been deciphered to read: "Be warned! He
means to be at the ball! Expect trouble if--" Was that to be looked upon
as directed against a man who, from the nature of his projected attempt,
would take no one into his confidence?

Then the stiletto--a photographic reproduction of which was in all the
papers--was that the kind of instrument which a plain New York gentleman
would be likely to use In a crime of this nature? It was a marked and
unique article, capable, as one would think, of being easily traced to
its owner. Had it been claimed by Mr. Ramsdell, had it been recognized
as one of the many works of art scattered about the highly-decorated
alcove, its employment as a means of death would have gone only to prove
the possibly unpremeditated nature of the crime, and so been valueless
as the basis of an argument in favor of Mr. Durand's innocence. But Mr.
Ramsdell had disclaimed from the first all knowledge of it, consequently
one could but feel justified in asking whether a man of Mr. Durand's
judgment would choose such an extraordinary weapon in meditating so
startling a crime which from its nature and circumstance could not fail
to attract the attention of the whole civilized world.

Another argument, advanced by himself and subscribed to by all his
friends, was this: That a dealer in precious stones would be the last
man to seek by any unlawful means to possess so conspicuous a jewel. For
he, better than any one else, would know the impossibility of disposing
of a gem of this distinction in any market short of the Orient. To which
the unanswerable reply was made that no one attributed to him any such
folly; that if he had planned to possess himself of this great diamond,
it was for the purpose of eliminating it from competition with the one
he had procured for Mr. Smythe; an argument, certainly, which drove us
back on the only plea we had at our command--his hitherto unblemished
reputation and the confidence which was felt In him by those who knew
him.

But the one circumstance which affected me most at the time, and which
undoubtedly was the source of the greatest confusion to all minds,
whether official or otherwise, was the unexpected confirmation by
experts of Mr. Grey's opinion in regard to the diamond. His name was
not used, indeed it had been kept out of the papers with the greatest
unanimity, but the hint he had given the inspector at Mr. Ramsdell's