So Miss Destiny was the criminal after all, and her confession alone revealed what had taken place in Anne Caldershaw\'s back room, shortly before I had arrived in my motor car to search for adventure. Inspector Dredge came to The Lodge that same evening to relate all that had taken place, and to inform us how he had come to Burwain. The little woman\'s body was found broken in pieces on the outskirts of Tarhaven, and small wonder, considering the terrible height from which she had fallen. We did not hear until the next day what Weston thought, as his airship proved to be unmanageable, and drifted over toward the island of Grain, where he managed to descend. There he remained for the night, and came back by train to Burwain in the afternoon of the ensuing day. But neither Gertrude nor I troubled about Weston\'s failure or absence. We were far too much taken up with the story told by Inspector Dredge.

"As you were so much connected with the matter, Mr. Vance," said the stern-faced man, when he appeared at four o\'clock in the drawing-room of The Lodge, "it is only fair that you should know the truth."

"I also am connected with the matter, Mr. Inspector," said Gertrude, "for I----"

He interrupted her with a grave bow. "I know what you would say, miss. You were in the back room, and left your cloak there, which was afterwards worn by Joseph Striver when he escaped in Mr. Vance\'s motor car. No blame attaches to you, miss, and I quite understand that you did not care to incriminate yourself by coming to explain to me. Yet, if you had done so," he ended, with rebukeful emphasis, "we might have arrived earlier at the truth."

"Who told you all this?" I asked curiously.

"Striver himself--by letter, that is," said Dredge, bringing out some papers from the pocket of his overcoat. "He is an accomplice after the fact. Miss Destiny, who actually committed the crime is dead, and her body--or what remains of it--lies at Tarhaven waiting the inquest, which will be held to-morrow. But Joseph will be searched for and arrested, as he knew the truth all along."

"Why did he not tell it?" asked Gertrude anxiously.

"I think you are to blame, Miss, or rather your sweet looks, Miss. Striver wished to use what he had learned in order to marry you."

"But what did he learn?" I asked, while Gertrude blushed at the complimentary tone of the officer.

"I am coming to that," said Dredge calmly, "all in good time, Mr. Vance. Two days ago I received a letter from Joseph Striver. It stated that he was sailing from a certain port to some foreign land, which he refused to name."

"Where is the letter written from?"

"There is no address given, Mr. Vance, but the postmark is that of London. It was posted at the General Post Office, so Striver has covered up his tracks very carefully. By this time he is doubtless on the high seas, and it will be difficult to trace him."

"Well?" I demanded impatiently, "and what did he say in his letter?"

Dredge took out an epistle--written on foolscap, as had been the one to me--and spread it out on the table. "There is no need to read it," he said gravely, "as I know the contents by heart."

"Yes; go on." Gertrude and myself were all attention.

"Striver writes that he came to see his aunt, knowing that Miss Monk was due for a visit. He was informed of this fact by Miss Destiny. Striver went up to the bedroom, while his aunt talked to Miss Monk who then arrived. Afterwards, Walter Monk entered the shop, and his daughter--you Miss," said the Inspector with a dry nod, "departed by the back door."

"I did not wish to meet my father," said Gertrude in low tones.

"So I understand from Striver\'s letter," said Dredge still dryly. "Well then, it appears that Mr. Monk also knew of his daughter\'s visit to Mrs. Caldershaw through Miss Destiny----"

"But why should she have told everyone that I was going?" asked Gertrude in an indignant voice.

"Can\'t you guess, Miss?" asked Dredge pityingly. "Miss Destiny went over to Mootley with the intention of murdering the woman."

"For what reason," I asked, anxious to be fully satisfied.

The Inspector heaved a sigh at my apparent stupidity. "You, Miss," he said to Gertrude, "had told Miss Destiny of your discovery of the diary and of your intention to ask Mrs. Caldershaw for the cipher. Your aunt, Miss, then guessed from sundry remarks that Mrs. Caldershaw had let fall, that the cipher was contained in the false eye worn by the woman. Miss Destiny determined to get that eye even at the cost of murder, and so told several people of your proposed visit, so that she might throw the blame on them."

"Do you mean to say," questioned Gertrude horrified, "that my aunt deliberately intended to have me accused of murder?"

"You, or Striver, or your father," assented Dredge coolly, "she had to save her own skin somehow you see, Miss, but to continue, Striver was wakened from sleep by a quarrel between Mrs. Caldershaw and Mr. Monk, as he waited the cipher, which she refused to give up----"

"Did he know that it was hidden in the eye?" I interrupted.

"I don\'t think so. He did not say so, from what Striver overheard. But he could not get what he wanted, and therefore went away, and walked back to Murchester as he had come. He called himself"--Dredge referred to the letter--"Mr. Wentworth Marr."

"Yes, yes, we know that," I said hastily.

"It seems to me, Mr. Vance, that you know much which you have not told me."

"I had my reasons, and very good ones," said I stiffly.

"No reasons should prevent your helping the police in the execution of their duty," said Dredge, with an official air. "However, as things have turned out for the best, we can let that pass. When Mr. Monk departed," he continued, taking up the thread of his narrative, "Striver told his aunt that he wanted to sleep, and returned to the bedroom. There he really did fall asleep, but before doing so he heard the voice of Miss Destiny."

"But she did not arrive until after the murder," I exclaimed.

"She arrived long before, as you will read in her confession," said Dredge grimly. "Let me proceed in due order, if you please. Striver stole down the stairs, as he was anxious to learn what Miss Destiny had to say to his aunt. He heard her ask for the cipher. Mrs. Caldershaw refused to give it up, saying she had it hidden in her false left eye, which would never leave her head until she was dead."

"Ah!" said Gertrude, "so that is how Aunt Julia learned about the eye."

"I think she knew it before," replied Dredge with a shrug. "However, when Striver learned about the eye, he retreated to the bedroom and threw himself on the bed to think how he could get it. Then he fell asleep. When he awoke it was quite dark and----"

"We know the rest," I interposed quickly; "he came downstairs and found his aunt dead. Then he heard me coming, and managed to lock me in and escape with my car."

Dredge nodded, glancing meanwhile at the letter. "Yes, Mr. Vance, it is as you say. Of course Striver knew that Miss Destiny had murdered his aunt, so when she returned to Burwain he taxed her with the crime. She denied it and tried to throw the blame on her niece and on Mr. Monk. But Striver threatened to tell the police, and the woman confessed. She said that she would find the money and give half to Striver: also that she would aid him to marry Miss Monk."

"The idea!" cried Gertrude angrily; "as if she could."

"She hoped to force you, by implicating you in the murder. For that reason, according to Striver, she left the eye on the table in this drawing-room."

"What!" I started to my feet. "Was it Miss Destiny who----?"

"Herself," said Dredge coolly. "She talked to Striver in the garden, then went to the window--that one yonder," said Dredge, pointing to the middle French window--"and placed the eye on the table, hoping that you, Miss, would find it. Then she trusted that you would not be able to account for its possession and would be accused of the crime."

"What a wicked woman; oh, what a wicked woman!"

"I think she was, Miss. However, she has paid for her wickedness by a most terrible death; if you had seen the body"--He stopped and, iron-nerved as he was, shuddered. After a pause he continued: "When Miss Destiny placed the eye on the table she went back to talk to Striver, and you, Mr. Vance, found them together."

"Yes, I did. But why did Striver go to the window. Did he know?"

"I can\'t be sure. Since he loved Miss Monk, I don\'t think he would have lent himself to such a wicked plot even to marry her. But he did go and secure the eye. Then he----"

"Used it to frighten Mr. Monk, who afterwards destroyed it. Go on."

Dredge shrugged his shoulders. "It seems to me that there is little chance of my telling you anything you don\'t know," he said, folding up the letter and replacing it in his breast pocket. "And that is all Striver has to say. I got out a warrant on the confession which he enclosed, and came here this morning. With two policemen I called at Miss Destiny\'s house, which was pointed out to me. She was away, and the girl Lucinda tried to escape to give her mistress warning."

"Did Lucinda know the truth?"

"Yes; she drove her mistress on that evening." Dredge stopped and waved his hands. "You\'ll hear that in the confession."

"Whose confession?"

"Miss Destiny\'s. Striver did not trust her, and moreover was fearful lest he should be accused of the deed. He swore to tell the police and give evidence against her unless she wrote out clearly what had occurred and signed it. Forced to do so, she did as she was bid, and Striver held this confession over her head so as to compel her to do his bidding. Lucinda would have warned her mistress, but--guessing that Miss Destiny would witness the trial flight of the airship--I took the girl with me and went to Mr. Weston\'s yard. You heard how she gave voice and saw how the mistress escaped. So"--he wiped his face with a shiver--"that is ended. God have mercy on the black soul of that woman."

"Amen to that," I said, while Gertrude wept silently. "But Striver seems to have behaved like a scoundrel."

"Never mind, Cyrus, he has made amends," whispered Gertrude through her tears--tears of which Miss Destiny was unworthy.

"Here," said Dredge, spreading out another document, "is the confession of Julia Destiny, signed by her in the presence of Striver. I need not read it," he added, folding up the precious paper and putting it away, "as I can give you a hasty précis of the contents. My time is short," he glanced at his watch, "I have to catch a train in an hour at Tarhaven. I must be brief."

"Yes, go on, and make the telling as short as you can," I said anxiously, "for Miss Monk cannot bear much more."

While I fondled Gertrude\'s hand within my own, the Inspector related what Miss Destiny had written. The wicked little woman had intended to get the eye, even if she had to kill Anne Caldershaw to force it out of the woman\'s head. She had arranged to bring Striver, Gertrude, and Walter Monk to Mootley so as to implicate them, if possible, and save herself from being accused of murder. She therefore arranged with Lucinda, who was bound body and soul to her service, to drive over early to Mootley on the second day of her journey thither. Lucinda, with the trap, remained behind a hedge near Murchester, and Miss Destiny, evading notice, crept through the fields to the corner shop. Striver was up stairs, but she did not know that, as Mrs. Caldershaw said nothing. But she learned that Gertrude had been, and saw the white cloak left behind in the kitchen, along with one of the blue glass-headed pins. She also learned that Monk had paid a visit, so she was quite prepared to fasten the blame of her contemplated deed on anyone of them.

"Oh, what a devil!" I murmured at this point of Dredge\'s narrative.

"Indeed you may so," he said, somewhat moved, for the recital was really terrible. "Well, then, while seated in the back kitchen Miss Destiny, failing to get the eye from Mrs. Caldershaw, watched her chance to murder her. She took up the blue glass-headed pin, which she knew belonged to Miss here----"

"She gave it to me herself," said Gertrude in............