“Tell you all about it? So I will--yes--yes. Peculiar--it was very peculiar----” “No doubt. Try and collect your thoughts.” “I will.” Mr. Wright mopped his brow for the twentieth time, blew his nose, and then, rolling his bandanna up into a ball, threw it into his hat, saying, as he rested his elbows upon the arms of the chair and leaned forward: “Mr. Carter, I think I have important information for you.” “That is what I want,” the detective replied. Nick was perfectly calm. Not a muscle of his face moved. But those shrewd eyes of his sparkled like two gems. “It was this way,” Mr. Wright continued, after a momentary silence: “After you left me I returned to my room in the hotel and sat down to glance at the morning newspaper. I could not remain quiet for any length of time, because my mind was dwelling continuously on the murder. “Well, an hour passed. I was pacing up and down the room trying to recall to my mind everything I had known and had heard about Lawrence, when there came a knock at my door. “I called out for the party to come in, and a tall, handsome, stylishly dressed woman entered the room. “I was taken by surprise and was slightly confused. I thought at first the woman had mistaken my room for some one else’s. But she looked at me very calmly, and when I did not speak she said: “‘Are you not Mr. Wright?’ “Instantly I pulled myself together and acknowledged that I was the individual. I invited her to be seated. “As far as I could remember, Mr. Carter, I had never seen the woman before in all my life. “‘You are Mr. Peter Wright?’ she asked again, as soon as she was seated, and she placed considerable emphasis upon ‘Peter,’ looking me straight in the eyes with such intensity as if she were endeavoring to read my most secret thoughts. “‘My name is Peter Wright,’ I said, and I commenced to experience a creeping sensation all over me. “Never before had I been in such a position. “It may have been my imagination, but I thought that she was making an effort to exert some influence over me. “Well, that is neither here nor there. It is a waste of time for me to go into details about my feelings----” “Go on,” Carter interrupted, “tell your story your own way, and do not make any attempt to abridge it. I am deeply interested.” “Let me see--oh, yes. As I said, I thought she was trying to hypnotize me. “As soon as I said that I was Peter Wright she asked: “‘Were you the owner of the Red Dragon Inn at one time?’ “I replied in the affirmative, and I saw a smile encircle her lips. “‘You don’t remember me,’ she said, after a pause. “‘Indeed, I do not,’ I replied. ‘I cannot recall that I ever saw you before.’ “‘No doubt, no doubt,’ she murmured. She glanced around the room and ran her hand across her forehead. ‘I have changed wonderfully,’ she went on. ‘Twenty years works wonderful changes in all of us,’ and she smiled, with the sweetest smile I ever beheld upon the face of a woman.