"Firstly, if you know the meaning of the blood signs on your husband's arm?" "No! I do not." "Then I am wiser than you, for I do." "You!" Mrs. Moxton bit her lip. "What do you know?" "That the signs stand for the letters R. U. Z. What the lizard, as I think it is, means I don't know. Mrs. Moxton, what is the meaning of the three letters R. U. Z.?" "I don't know, really I don't!" "Had your husband any friend with a name beginning Ruz, or with initials R. U. Z.?" "Not that I ever heard of." "What about the lizard?" "I cannot understand its meaning." "And you don't comprehend either the letters or the cypher?" "No! no! no!" This triple denial was so emphatic that Ellis was forced to believe her. Yet it appeared strange that she should be so ignorant of matters which virtually concerned the death of her husband. He looked keenly at her for some sign of confusion, but the brow of Mrs. Moxton was as open as the day. If she lied she was a wonderful actress, but Ellis did not believe that she lied, being too much in love to consider her so deliberately base. "Well!" said he, making an attempt in another direction to fathom the mystery. "My landlady, Mrs. Basket, called to see you the other day." "To spy out the land. Oh, I saw through her pretended kindness at once. She wished to find some proof of my guilt, but as I had nothing to conceal I gave her the opportunity of convincing herself that I was innocent." "The very proof you gave convinced her of your guilt," said Ellis, warmly. "Mrs. Basket is a dangerous woman, Mrs. Moxton; one of those well-meaning people who do so much harm. She has no special grudge against you, but she has got it into her mind that you killed your husband with the carving-knife." "But I did not. It is nonsense talking like that!" "Then where is the carving-knife? Mrs. Basket searched but could not find it, and now she believes that you have hidden it." "What rubbish!" said Mrs. Moxton, with contempt. "Edgar threw it away." "Threw it away? Why?" "Because he knew that I kept it by me to protect myself against tramps or burglars, so, out of sheer devilry, the week before he died, he threw it into the garden behind some bushes." "Is it there now?" "No. I searched everywhere for it after the murder and could not find it. Why do you ask?" "Because a broad-bladed knife was used to kill your husband, and it might have been the carving-knife. The murderer must have picked it up and made use of it. And----" The woman appeared uneasy, and interrupted Ellis. "How would the murderer know that the knife was in the garden? Only two people knew where it was thrown. One was Edgar, the other myself." "I would not advise you to say that in public, Mrs. Moxton, as people might count it as good circumstantial evidence that you killed Moxton." "Oh!" cried the widow, clenching her fists. "Do you believe me guilty?" "No, I do not. Is there any need to ask me that question?"