"Now, I come to the actual theft of the ring. The moment I found it had been taken, I realized all the difficulties of my position, how dangerous any inquiry would be to my reputation, which would necessarily establish the fact of its being a gift of Slade’s. I resolved on desperate measures. That is why I came back, had the doors locked, extinguished the lights, and announced that I would call in detectives to have every one searched, unless the ring was restored during the period in the dark, while I counted one hundred." "Did you suspect who had taken it?" asked McKenna. "There were several I could suspect—that was the trouble," she said. "As you know, when I had counted sixty-one, there was a sound on the table. Every one exclaimed! The ring had been restored! When the lights were lit the table was bare. Evidently a second thief had taken what the first had restored. That’s what I thought—every one thought. I was wrong. There were not two thieves, there was only one." "The same person had put it down as a blind and taken it again," said McKenna slowly, as she waited for his comment. "No," she replied, smiling. "It was all cleverly planned, and only an accident prevented its being successful. My ring was never on the table." "The ring that was thrown down, then," said McKenna, suddenly enlightened, "was another ring—a blind—to cover what any one might have seen? I see!" "And also to make it appear that the ring was in the studio." "Yes, I understand it now," said McKenna, nodding, with a sudden snap of his fingers. "I immediately went out, locking the door, and telephoned for my detectives. To this point this was my only thought. When I had done that, I began to think over what had happened. It seemed incredible to me that any one should have dared take such a risk—particularly as a search was inevitable. When I returned to the studio and awaited the arrival of my detectives, this was my only thought. I studied each and I became convinced that the ring would not be found on any one. If that were true, where was it? In the studio, hidden somewhere—but even there it would be sure to be found—so why should any one have even risked that?" She stopped a moment and then said quietly, with again that same far-seeing look beyond him: "McKenna, in my life I have seen many strange scenes. I have known of many more. One such came back to me and I guessed this much—that the real ring had not been heard. But that was all. When the detectives arrived, I went quietly into the hall, still trying to work it out. Quite by accident, I brushed against one of the coats that was hanging over the railing and knocked it down. Absolutely mechanically, without knowing why I did it, when I picked it up I ran my hands in the pockets. In the second was the ring." "And the coat, you say, was Beecher’s?" said McKenna, amazed.