An angry red flushed the hard face of the woman, and she made a gesture of contempt for the lack of imagination Paul displayed. "Mr. Lovel, indeed!" she said contemptuously. "He had as much to do with the crime as I had! No; I took that pistol from Dr. Lester." "Lester! Then he is innocent!" "Entirely. He should not have been arrested." "Then why did you not prevent his arrest by producing this revolver at the inquest?" "Oh, I had my reasons for that," said Miss Clyde, with an emphatic nod; "these I will tell you later. In the meantime, Mr. Mexton, please to assure yourself that the revolver you hold in your hand is actually the property of Dr. Lester. Look at the silver plate on the butt." Paul did so, and on the small silver oval found the name "R. Lester" engraved in Gothic letters. Nodding in his turn, he replaced the weapon on the desk; and as it was loaded, he deduced from such fact another point in favour of Lester. "I see there are cartridges in all six barrels!" she said quickly. "Yes; Dr. Lester did not fire even one barrel; so you see he did not kill his daughter." "Then who did?" "My dear Mr. Mexton, I know no more than you do!" said Miss Clyde candidly. "I see that from the evidence of Brent--a rascal whom I discharged from my employment--that you suspect me. Well," she laughed in an ironical manner, "I can clear myself; not only can I do so, but I can prove the innocence of Dr. Lester." "Will you do so to me?" asked Paul eagerly. Miss Clyde looked him coolly up and down. "Really, Mr. Mexton, I do not see why I should," was her response; "you do not represent the law." "Not officially. But Inspector Drek has accepted my assistance." "Has he? And why have you offered it?" "Because I wish to save Dr. Lester from being judicially murdered." "I think that lies in my province rather than in yours," said Miss Clyde, smiling; "but I suppose the real reason that you are acting as an amateur detective lies in the fact that you love Miss Link?" Paul smiled also. "I can't say that I do," he replied; "we are more like brother and sister than anything else. But I don't deny that I am sorry for her on account of her loss." "You need not be," retorted Miss Clyde with disdain; "there was no love lost between Milly and Iris; in fact, they disliked one another." "Oh, I should not say that," protested Paul, shocked by her want of sentiment. "Aye, but I shall say it! Milly was going to marry Mr. Herne, and Iris was in love with him; quite enough motive there for two women to fight." "No doubt," rejoined Paul, with significance; "jealousy between women has caused many a crime." "Is that a hit at me?" asked Miss Clyde, good-humouredly: "because, if it is, it falls short of the mark. You infer that I was jealous of that poor dead girl because Lucas Lovel made love to her." "Report says so."