“He keeps looking at my fingers,” he whispered to himself. “And I touched the dagger. My finger-prints are on the hilt.” He raised his voice. “Have you searched for finger-prints on the dagger, lieutenant?” “Yes, I examined it carefully. Iron is a bad receiver. The hilt is of iron and the traces left are insufficient for any practical evidence.” The housekeeper appeared. “Just one question,” Norton addressed the white-faced woman soothingly. “Did Mr. Ballau have any callers in the afternoon or evening after Mr. De Medici had left?” “There are so many people coming and going in this house,” Jane began, her eyes centered on the detective. “Come, think now, Jane,” Norton persisted. “Did you see anybody in the apartment besides Mr. Ballau ... anybody at all?” “I saw Mr. Ballau,” she answered softly. “I saw him.” “When?” “After dinner.” “What did he say and how did he look?” “He was coming out from shaving,” Jane answered. “I don’t remember he said anything.” “And after that, who did you see after you saw Mr. Ballau come out from shaving? Now come, think. I know you’re upset, but try to remember.” The detective’s keen eyes had fastened steadily on the woman. She stood looking at him in silence, her face growing white, her own eyes widening. Then, abruptly, she whispered in a low voice as if talking to herself: “He ... he ... I didn’t exactly see him. I can’t remember. I only saw somebody for a moment. Somebody else. Yes, somebody else.” Her voice went up into a wail. “Where were you when you saw this somebody else?” Norton persisted softly. “I forget,” Jane moaned. “Oh, it’s awful! Somebody else.... I saw somebody.... I remember. In the hall. I was standing in the hall. It was dark. He was a tall man. He had a black beard.” “That will be all, Jane.” The woman, overcome by her emotions, had fallen forward in her chair. The sergeant came to her side. Norton turned with a look of triumph to De Medici and Dr. Greer. “A simple-minded woman,” he said. “And Ballau knew it would be easy to take her in. And now for the motive. Suicide usually has a motive as well as murder. I think we’ll find two facts: Fact number one, that Ballau was heavily insured. Fact number two, that Ballau was heavily in debt. Then there is also the fact that his daughter, to whom he was devoted, was to be married. With her marriage in sight the father naturally thought that keeping up this pretense”—Norton indicated the apartment by a wave of his hand—“was no longer necessary. We’ll probably find that he knew ruin was inevitable and, desiring to leave his daughter something out of the wreck, he thought of his insurance. Insurance often isn’t collectable in a case of suicide, so he camouflaged the thing to look like murder.”