“How did you get your clew to this riddle?” asked the inspector of Nick.
“I found it in the character of Mrs. Parks,” said Nick. “She could not be a thief or willingly the associate of thieves. She was not the sort of woman who leads a double life.
“Yet she was proved to have been in a resort of thieves. What motive could have carried her there?
“I answer, only love, or what was left of it after respect had been destroyed—the love of some man.
“What man? To know her character was to answer that question. It must be her husband.”
“But, how did you learn her character so quickly?”
“For that I must thank my assistant, Ida Jones. I sent her on that part of the case as soon as the identity of the woman was known. She reported to me from time to time. It was easy enough to trace her, she had so many friends among the poor. Ida had only to get a tip from Park’s coachman and the thing was done.”
“How did you persuade him to walk into your trap?”
“I told him I would show him the murderer of his wife. He could not refuse to come.
“Once here, I asked him if he dared to meet the Helstone gang. Could he say that he did not dare? That would have been confession.