some young fellow, and when he got tired of her she returned to the stage, and became famous as a burlesque actress, under the name of Musette. There she met Whyte, as your friend found out, and they came here for the purpose of extorting money from Frettlby. When they arrived in Melbourne, Rosanna let Whyte do all the business, and kept herself quiet. She gave her marriage certificate to Whyte, and he had it on him the night he was murdered."
"Then Gorby was right," interposed Calton, eagerly. "The man to whom those papers were valued did murder Whyte!"
"Can you doubt it? And that man was——"
"Not Mark Frettlby?" burst out Calton. "In God's name, not Mark Frettlby?"
Brian nodded, "Yes, Mark Frettlby!"
There was silence for a few moments, Calton being too much startled by the revelation to say anything.
"When did you discover this?" he asked, after a pause.
"At the time you first came to see me in prison," said Brian. "I had no suspicion till then; but when you said Whyte was murdered for the sake of certain papers—knowing what they were and to whom they were valuable—I immediately guessed that Mark Frettlby had killed Whyte in order to obtain them, and keep his secret."
"There can be no doubt of it," said the barrister, with a sigh. "So this is the reason Frettlby wanted Madge to marry Whyte—her hand was to be the price of his silence. When he withdrew his consent, Whyte threatened him with exposure. I remember he left the house in a very excited state on the night he was murdered. Frettlby must have followed him up town, got into the cab with him, and after killing him with chloroform, took the marriage certificate from his secret pocket and escaped."
Brian rose to his feet and walked rapidly up and down the room.
"Now you can understand what a hell my life has been the last few months," he said, knowing that he had committed the crime, and yet I had to sit with him, eat with him, and drink with him, with the knowledge that he was a murderer, and Madge—good God—Madge, his daughter!"
Just then a knock came to his door, and Mrs. Sampson
