They offered no resistance, because they saw that it would be of no avail.
The two detectives guarded the prisoners while Carter made a search of the flat.
In a trunk belonging to Rich he found a Moorish dagger, the blade and hilt of which were stained with blood. He also found an old pocketbook with papers belonging to the murdered man in it.
On this were marks of bloody fingers.
The woman who admitted Carter was the wife of the murdered man, and the third woman in the parlor was Lawrence’s daughter. She was a beautiful young woman, but at a glance the detective saw that she had been leading a life of dissipation.
The prisoners were taken to police headquarters.
When Rich was led into the chief inspector’s office and he beheld the witnesses congregated there all his bravado fled.
“The game is up!” he ejaculated, and he sank into a chair, his handsome face the color of death. “You cornered me, Mr. Carter. I killed Lawrence. There is no use for me to deny anything. When I learned that he was about to be released from Sing Sing I made up my mind to kill him. I feared him, and so did his wife. I knew there was evidence in existence to prove that we had conspired against him.
“I suppose you have received statements from all these people and there is no use for me to make a long confession.
“All I’ll say will be that I tracked Lawrence to the Red Dragon Inn, and when the bartender’s back was turned I slipped upstairs and hid in the parlor.