I will tell my story. There is very little to tell. 

 "We arrived before the other party. We heard them go into room B. 

 "By and by, I went out into the hall to find the waiter, who didn't answer my ring. I saw this man," pointing to Gaspard, "at the desk, and should have spoken to him, but just then the waiter hove in sight at the end of the hall. 

 "So I went back. Just as I was closing the door of our room, I heard the man come out of room B. 

 "I didn't see him, but I know that he went down the front stairs, for I heard his footsteps, and also heard the door shut. 

 "The waiter came in and finally went out again. We. were just ready to leave the place when we heard the pistol-shot in the other room. 

 "Then we got out of the house just as fast as we could. It was cowardly, perhaps, but I knew that something terrible had happened, and I didn't want to be mixed up in it. 

 "Of course I wanted to keep the lady out of it, too, and—and—well, you can see that there were many reasons why I should have decided to make tracks." 

 "You know that the man was not in room B when the shot was fired?" said Nick. 

 "I'm sure of it." 

 "He might have come back." 

 "No; the front door makes a loud noise when it is shut I should have heard him if he had come in that way. And if he had come the other way this man would have seen him." 

 "You didn't see him at all, did you?" 

 "No." 

 "So you can't say whether Jones was the man?" 

 "No; but I'm sure he wasn't the murderer." 

 "You think it was suicide?" 

 "I'm sure of it. How could it have been anything else? The woman was alone." 

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