name is - "

Here the letter came to an abrupt close.

Muller and Horn looked at each other in silence, then they turned
their eyes again toward the dead man.

"He was a coward," said the detective coldly, and turned away.
Horn repeated mechanically, "A coward!" and his eyes also looked
down with a changed expression upon the handsome, soft-featured
face, framed in curly blond hair, that lay so silent against the
chair-back. Many women had loved this dead man, and many men had
been fond of him, for they had believed him capable and manly.

The commissioner and Muller continued their researches in silence
and with less interest than before. They found a heap of loose
ashes in the bedroom stove. Letters and other trifles had been
burned there. Muller raked out the heap very carefully, but the
writing on the few pieces of paper still left whole was quite
illegible. There were several envelopes in the waste-basket, but
all of them were dated several months back. There was nothing that
could give the slightest clue.

The letter written by the murdered man was sufficient proof that
his death had been an act of vengeance. But who was it who had
carried out this secret, terrible deed? The victim had not been
allowed the time to write down the name of his murderer.

Horn took the letter into his keeping. Then he left the room,
followed by Muller and the valet, to look about the rest of the