"He showed it to Betty and to me," declared Mrs. Nash, breaking her long silence. "And swore us to absolute secrecy. I greatly feared," she added, "that Betty was in some way mixed up in the tragedy and my husband's extraordinary denial of their presence here on Monday, when Pierre had brought me Betty's telegram to Paul, fed my imagination--and--and--I dropped that note to you, Mr. Trenholm, and--" not meeting her husband's reproachful glance, but looking instead at Miriam--"I took surreptitious doses of phenacetin and accidentally overdid it and nearly killed myself, but," with a return of her old arrogant air, "I was determined to find out what was going on in this house, whatever the consequences." "I see," Trenholm concealed a smile, and then grew grave. "The usual ill-luck, apparently inseparable from the possession of great diamonds, has overtaken Paul," he said sorrowfully. "He remained true to his trust and never parted with the jewel. Miss Ward," with an abruptness which startled her from her study of Roberts, whose eyes had never left the diamond, "your uncle, M. Paltoff, gave the gem to Paul--they are both dead--what do you wish done with it?" She could not prevent a shudder. "I cannot take it," she protested. "Can you not turn it over to the Department of State and let the Government decide as to its disposition?" "An excellent suggestion." Trenholm, after replacing the diamond in its hiding place, secreted the watch carefully in an inside pocket. "Stand back, Roberts," as the physician made an effort to wrench it from him. "You will go with the constable and Riley, but first," his voice deepened, "how was it that you, supposedly a reputable physician and a man of honor, joined Zybinn in his endeavor to steal the Paltoff diamond?" Roberts turned sullenly, the veneer gone; and a criminal, crafty and sinister-eyed, faced them. "I am a drug addict," he admitted. "I became so two years ago after a nervous breakdown. I was ship's surgeon on the transport with Paul. He sent for me and I removed the diamond from the wound in his leg. I was straight then. My practice had fallen off; I was, in fact, a ruined man when, on a visit to Doctor Nash, I met Zybinn. He wormed Paul's secret out of me, and promised, if I would steal the jewel, to give me half the value of the diamond. I knew he had money, for he had deposited a large fortune in a bank in Toronto before fleeing from Russia after a quarrel with Lenin. Zybinn pointed out that the diamond was too celebrated to be negotiable in the usual channels, and that, cut into smaller stones, it would lose most of its value, and so I agreed to his terms." "And why the stamp code?" asked Trenholm, as Roberts came to an abrupt halt.