“The disguise was merely a trick to make the recognition more sure.”
“But how about the diamonds, Nick?”
“Why, I take it that when Mrs. Parks tracked her husband to the resort of his gang and entered it after him there was wild confusion.
“Very little was said that anybody understood or remembered. There was a heap of plunder on the table for the gang was ready to move.
“Mrs. Parks snatched these diamonds as a corroboration of the story she intended to tell to the police. So tremendous was the excitement that nobody noticed her action.
“When Parks followed her out and murdered her, he dared not remove the diamonds for fear somebody would see him. The horror that comes on all murderers came on him.”
“But why did Parks tell that false story about a robbery at his house?”
“In order to get hold of the gems before the rightful owner could identify them and in order to make the police believe that Mrs. Parks was a thief and a companion of thieves. It gave him a chance to tell this lie about stock gambling.”
Mrs. Parks recovered, but she declined to appear against her husband.
“I never wish to look on his face again,” she said. “He is a bad man and deserves punishment, but you must deal with him on a charge of robbery, not on a charge of assault.”