"Yes," replied Sturgis, answering his thought, "the man you met only a few hours ago."
There was a brief silence, broken at last by Sprague, who asked:
"Has he escaped?"
Sturgis hesitated.
"That depends upon how we look at it," he said gravely at length; "he has paid the penalty of his crimes."
"What do you mean?"
"He is dead," answered the reporter.
"Dead? But I tell you I saw him——"
"I know; but he has died since."
"Suicide?"