Nevertheless, Nick could not bring himself to the belief that she had taken any part in the assassination of Turnieff, actively or passively, or that she had knowledge of the intention to kill him.
He believed that in that respect she had been maligned. He believed the statements she had made in regard to herself at the time of that conservatory conversation, and he looked upon her now as not half so bad as she had been painted, or as she had permitted others to believe her.
Her conduct toward him when she drove him away from her home left no sting after it, for, after all, that was part of the game, and it was up to her to take all the tricks she could take. Aside from the assassination, Nick had a notion that the country Juno was serving had more of right on its side than Russia did.
Nevertheless, Nick had pledged himself to recover those secret documents for the ambassador, and he meant to do so; and now that Turnieff had been killed, he had promised himself that the assassins should be caught.
“Whether Juno is the person sought in this case or not, she is the real key to the situation,” he told himself; and believing that, he made arrangements for the next move.
He had determined now to move quickly. The murder of Turnieff should not go unpunished, nor would he consent that he should himself be thought guilty of such a crime if it could be avoided.
By the time he had finished his talk with the ambassador, morning had come; and the ambassador, at the detective’s request, arose much earlier than usual, and went forth to make some purchases for Nick, since it was not safe at that time to trust another with the errand.
The things he wanted were the necessities for the disguise he had determined to wear when night should fall again, and in the meantime he intended to keep very quiet indeed within the house of the ambassador.
When the prince returned with the articles needed, he brought with him several of the morning papers, and Nick learned from their contents the exact status of affairs at that time. After he had discussed the matter to some further extent with the ambassador, he shut himself in a room and began to make the transformation in his appearance which now seemed so necessary.
“Once there was a man who called himself Bare-Faced Jimmy,” he said to himself with a smile as he regarded his own reflection in the mirror of the room, “and now I shall proceed to bring that man—although he is in Sing Sing prison at the present moment—into this room for my especial benefit.”