lid. In your assumed character of my assistant, no one will recognize

the eminent New Orleans detective. Mrs. Rutledge must be told in the morning--I will be back here to do it--that on account of decomposition the body must not be exposed. I think that we will be able to carry out our plans. Only one must be very, very careful, for one little slip will ruin all. And----”

He came to a startled halt. The two men had entered the room where Rosamond Arleigh’s supposed corpse lay upon the couch. But there was nothing there; _the body was gone_!