"Was, I suppose you mean. She was Rose Mitchel." "Ah! Did you know her?" "I agreed to answer but one question. I have done so." "You have admitted that you knew her." "You will find it difficult to prove that." "Oh, shall I? I have witnesses. Gentlemen, please come forward." A door at the farther end of the room opened, and two physicians entered. The detective continued, "What have you to say now?" "That I am most profoundly indebted to you for having enabled me to prove what has happened, and also that you have so soon let me know that we are not alone." Mr. Barnes bit his lip at this taunt, and Mr. Mitchel, turning to the doctors, continued, "Gentlemen, I am delighted to know that you have overheard what has occurred. You may be called upon to give testimony. If you will remember, I think that you will admit that Mr. Barnes asked me who this woman is. Correcting his grammar I replied, 'She was Rose Mitchel.' Am I accurate?" "Quite so," said one of the doctors. "Mr. Barnes claims that I have admitted that I knew the woman. I claim that I have merely admitted that I knew her name, which is a very different thing." "You admitted more than that," said the detective testily, "for you must have known more than her name to be able to give a name to this dead body." "You are quite right, Mr. Barnes, I must also have known her face. In the same way I know both name and face of Lillian Russell. Were I to identify her dead body, would that prove that I was a personal acquaintance?" "Certainly not, but you cannot claim that this woman was known to you in that way, for she was not a public character." "How do you know that?" "Well then, was she?" "That is another question, and I decline to answer it, at least before witnesses. If you will walk with me as far as my hotel I will do the best I can to explain to you how I could identify this corpse without having been acquainted with the woman herself." "Of course I will go with you, for explain this you must"; and together the two men left the building. They walked across to Fifth Avenue and down that thoroughfare for several blocks in silence. Mr. Mitchel was evidently thinking over the position in which he found himself, and Mr. Barnes was satisfied not to hasten the explanation. He thus gave himself time to make a few mental notes, which if written down would have read as follows: