I bade him good night, shook hands with Pickering and was on my way back to my car, when another automobile drove up. Three men jumped out, and as they passed in front of the lamps, I recognized Lawrence Brown and Fred Paisley, from the club; the third man was Frank Woods. As I caught sight of his well-set-up figure, all the hatred I had for him seemed to rise in my throat and choke me. Try as I would I couldn't separate him from the tragedy. When the farmer said the black limousine was full of men, I realized that Frank Woods couldn't have been one of them, and yet, so great was my distrust of the man, that I felt like accusing him on the spot. Larry Brown caught sight of me and wrung my hand. "Dammit, old man, I can't fell you how sorry I am." Paisley patted me on the back. "If there is anything we can do, Thompson----" I shook my head and tears came to my eyes. They made me realize poignantly how much I had lost. Woods didn't join us. He knew if he tried to sympathize with me, after the affair the other day, that I would throttle him for his hypocrisy. "Was Jim killed outright?" Brown asked. "Yes! And there's one chance in a thousand for Helen." Both men started. "Was Mrs. Felderson there? They telephoned us at the club that Jim had been killed, but we didn't know she was with him." They glanced at each other and then at Woods, who was standing by the side of the overturned car. "You'd better tell him, Larry," Paisley muttered. "Doesn't he know?" I asked. "Of course not," replied Brown. "He was out there at the club with us. I'm afraid it will hit him awfully hard." He stepped over to Woods and, taking him by the arm, they disappeared into the darkness. We heard a choking cry, and the next moment Woods came running toward us. His face was distorted with horror and his eyes were almost starting from his head. "Thompson, for God's sake, tell me he lies! Tell me he lies!" he shrieked. "Helen wasn't in that car?" The old suspicions came tumbling back an hundredfold and I turned cold all over. "It is true," I said, "Mrs. Felderson is in the hospital at the point of death." With a stifled groan, Woods sank to the ground and buried his face in his shaking hands. CHAPTER SIX A CLUE AND A VERDICT