“Did the Count tell you the identity of the fourth man?”
“Yes. Apparently Clark realized the game was up, for on inquiry at the Buckingham we learned that he hasn’t been to his room since Saturday afternoon. I have sent a description of him to every Secret Service man in the country, and have also had the trans-Atlantic steamship lines watched. We shall catch him, never fear, but I am afraid he will get off afterwards. Conspiracy is a mighty hard thing to prove.”
“I am convinced you can hold Clark for another crime,” said Dick slowly. Chief Connor looked at him in surprise.
“As for instance?” he asked.
“Mrs. Trevor’s murder.”
“Indeed!” The Chief sat back and pulled his mustache thoughtfully. “And your grounds for such a charge?”
“Clark is the one person beside the Attorney General who can open the safe. Mrs. Trevor’s body, you may remember, was found locked inside it. The burglar, Nelson, declares on oath that she was there when he opened the safe. According to the butler, who has lived with the Trevors for over twenty years, Clark and Mrs. Trevor quarreled often. He had a key to the Trevors’ front door, so that he could enter without anyone in the house being the wiser. And,” added Dick, “he knew where every member of the household would be on that night. Then the Camorra had evidently decreed her death; Clark was said to be their direct agent in the affair.”
“And his motive for killing Mrs. Trevor?”
“Count de Smirnoff informed me Clark was an old lover of hers in Naples. I know that he has been paying great attention to Miss Trevor. Possibly he did not take the precaution of being off with the old love before being on with the new.”
Chief Connor followed Dick’s arguments closely.