Gaspard, with a very pale face, went back to his desk.

Nick remained alone with the beautiful dead.




CHAPTER II.

GASPARD SPOTS HIS MAN.


A revolver lay on the carpet just where it would have been if it had
dropped from the woman's right hand.

Its position suggested the possibility of suicide, and there was, at the
first glance, nothing to contradict that theory, except the conduct of
Corbut and the man who had registered as John Jones.

It might be that the woman had committed suicide, and the men had fled
for fear of being implicated in the affair.

Nick examined this side of the case at once.

The pistol had evidently been held only a few inches from the woman's
head when it was fired.

Her white flesh showed the marks of the powder.

The bullet had passed straight through the head.