Early in the afternoon I had heard of the discovery of a dead body on an East River pier. The man was handcuffed and gagged, and had been repeatedly stabbed. Already it was becoming spoken of as the most brutal murder on record.
That evening I was sent to look at the body and to give any assistance I could toward working up the case.
The moment I reached the Morgue and the sheet was drawn down, I understood the reason why Shadow had pretended not to hear my question.
The body was that of McGinnis.
On his breast had been found pinned a bit of paper, bearing these words:
"This man died a righteous death. He was a murderer, and meets the same fate he dealt to another. His victim is avenged.
"Search for the person who inflicted this punishment will be in vain."
This last sentence several shrewd detectives thought implied that the writer intended self-destruction.
This view I bolstered up to the best of my ability.
Needless to say, the murderer of McGinnis was never discovered.
In fact, none of us who knew Shadow—confound it! Nellie Millbank—ever saw her afterward, unless—— Well, one day long afterward I entered a horse-car; opposite to me sat two black-garbed sisters of mercy. For just one fleeting second the eyes of one of them encountered mine.