"May he not have feared to ask you to implicate yourself in a robbery, and possible scandal? You know he was liable to arrest, and it might be a considerable time before he could have proven that his theft was only a joke. He may have wished to spare you notoriety." "He knows me better than that." She said this with a smile. "How better?" asked the detective. "I mean that he knows there is nothing that I would not risk for him, since I have consented to give him myself. I am one of those women, Mr. Barnes, who are not easily deterred from aiding the man of her choice." "Do you mean that you would be willing to share unenviable notoriety with him, and that he knew this?" "I do, and therefore feel confident that he would have asked my assistance if it had been his intention to take my pin." "Just as he did on another occasion?" The detective had been leading her up to this for the last few moments, and now watched to see the effect. She did not change countenance, but simply said: "What occasion?" "The morning when he locked your maid in this room, whilst you went down-town and took a little girl from one house to another?" "To what other?" This was a hard one for the detective, and as he did not reply she smiled aggravatingly, as she continued: "Mr. Barnes, you have no proof of your assertion. You suspect that I did what you say, but you do not know it. As I told you just now, it is possible for a bare suspicion to lead one astray." "Perhaps, but I do not think that I am far wrong in this instance." "We will not discuss it. Let us return to the ruby. You told Mr. Van Rawlston, so he tells me, that you knew in advance that this crime was about to occur. Did you know the person who would take the pin?" "To be perfectly frank with you, Miss Remsen, I expected that Mr. Mitchel would take it. I think now that he did take it. Do you wish me to continue the investigation? It may lead to your friend's losing his wager, whereas you have the right to notify the police that your gem has been returned to you. That would make our work on the case useless, and assure him of winning his bet." Mr. Barnes's object here was ingenious. He thought that if the girl accepted his suggestion, he would thus be assured that she still suspected Mr. Mitchel. Thus he would reach her true opinion of the case. Her answer was. "I cannot do that. It would certainly be to give up my hope of recovering the stone. I am sure that Mr. Mitchel has not taken it. If I am wrong, and he has done so without trusting me, why then he has made a mistake, and must suffer by it. I am sure, however, it will prove otherwise. So do the best you can, if you please." "You may rely upon it that my best energies shall be devoted to this work. I wish you good-morning." About six o'clock that same afternoon, Mr. Barnes sent his card up to Mr. Mitchel, at the Lafayette, in Philadelphia. A few minutes later he was shown into that gentleman's room, and found him in bed.