nce of saving the girl who
has so cleverly deceived you. But, without offence, Mr. Royle, I
certainly think you are a fool to act as you are now acting," she added.
"A foul crime of jealousy has been committed, and the assassin must pay
the penalty of her crime."

"And you allege jealousy as the motive?" I gasped.

"Most certainly," she answered. Then, after a pause of a few seconds, she
added--"The girl you have so foolishly trusted and in whom you still
believe so implicitly, left her home in Cromwell Road in the night, as
she had often done before, and walked round to Harrington Gardens in
order to see Digby. There, in his rooms, she met her rival--she had
suspicions and went there on purpose armed with a knife. And with it she
struck the girl down, and killed her."

"It's a lie!" I cried, starting to my feet. "A foul, wicked lie!"

"But what I say can be proved."

"At a price," I said bitterly.

"As you are a business man, so I am a business woman, Mr. Royle," she
replied quite calmly. "When I see an opportunity of making money, I do
not hesitate to seize it."

"But if you know the truth--if this is the actual truth which at present
I will not believe--then it is your duty, nay, you are bound by law to go
to the police and tell them what you know."

"I shall do that, never fear," she laughed. "But first I shall try and
get something for my trouble."

"And whom do you intend to bring up as witness against Miss Shand?" I
asked.

"Wait and see. There will be a witness--an eye-witness, who was present,
and whose evidence will be corroborated," she declared in due course
with a self-satisfied air. "I have not resolved to reveal the truth
without fully reviewing the situation. When the police know--as they
certainly will--you will then find that I have not lied, and perhaps you
will alter your opinion of the girl you now hold in such high esteem."

CHAPTER XVIII.

DISCLOSES THE TRAP.

The woman's words held me speechless.

She seemed so cold, so determined, so certain of her facts that I felt,
when I came to consider what I already had proved, that she was actually
telling me the ghastly truth.

And yet I loved Phrida. No. I refused to allow my suspicions to be
increased by this woman who had approached the police openly and asked
for payment for her information.

She was Phrida's enemy. Therefore it was my duty to treat her as such,
and in a moment I had decided upon my course of action.

"