“We’veasgoodasgotthestonesnow，andwe’regoingthroughto-nightforaclean-upofallthatoldmess。Westakethewholething。Getme，Bertha-thewholething！I’mshowingmyhandforthefirsttime。Cloran’sthemanthat’smakingyouwearthoseclothes；Cloran’stheonlyonewhocouldgointothewitnessboxandswearthatyouwerethewomanwhomurderedDeemer；andCloran’sthemanwhohasbeenworkinghisheadofffortwoyearstofindyou。
We’vetriedadozentimestobumphimoffinawaythatwouldmakehisdeathappeartobeduepurelytoanaccident，andwedidn’tgetawaywithit；butwecanaffordtoleavethe’accident’outofitto-night，andgothroughforkeeps-andthat’swhatwe’regoingtodo。Andoncehe’soutoftheway-bymidnight-youcanheaveGypsyNanintothediscard。“
ItseemedtoRhodaGraythathorrorhadsuddenlytakenanumbingholduponhersensibilities。Danglarwastalkingaboutmurderingsomeman，wasn’the，sothatshecouldresumeagainthepersonalityofawomanwhowasdead？Hystericallaughterrosetoherlips。Itwasonlybyafranticeffortofwillthatshecontrolledherself。
Sheseemedtospeakinvoluntarily，doubtfulalmostthatitwasherownvoicesheheard。
“I’mlistening，“shesaid；“butIwouldn’tbetoosure。Cloran’sawarybird，andthere’stheWhiteMoll。“
Shecaughtherbreath。Whatsuicidalinspirationhadpromptedhertosaythat！Hadwhatshehadbeenlisteningtohere，thehorrorofit，indeedturnedherbrainandrobbedherofherwitstotheextentthatsheshouldinviteexposure？Danglar’sfacehadgoneamottledpurple；themisshapenthingatDanglar’ssidewasleeringathermostcuriously。
ItwasamomentbeforeDanglarspoke；andthenhishand，clencheduntilthewhiteoftheknucklesshowed，poundeduponthetabletopunctuatehiswords。
“Notto-night！“heraspedoutwithanoath。“There’snotachancethatshe’sinonthisto-night-theshe-devil！Butshe’snext！
Withthiscleanedup，she’snext！Ifittakesthelastdollarofto-night’shaul，andfiveyearstodoit，I’llgether，andget-“
“Sure！“mumbledRhodaGrayhurriedly。“Butyouneedn’tgetexcited！
Iwasonlythinkingofherbecauseshe’squeeredustillI’vegotmyfingerscrossed，that’sall。GoonaboutCloran。“
Danglar’scomposuredidnotreturnontheinstant。Hegnawedathislipsforamomentbeforehespoke。
“Allright！“hejerkedoutfinally。“Letitgoatthat！Itoldyoutheothernightinthegarretthatthingswerebeginningtobreakourway，andthatyouwouldn’thavetostaytheremuchlonger，butIdidn’ttellyouhoworwhy-youwouldn’tgivemeachance。I’lltellyounow；andit’sthemainreasonwhyI’vekeptawayfromyoulately。Icouldn’ttakeachanceofClorangettingwisetothatgarretandGypsyNan。“Hegrinnedsuddenly。
“I’vebeencultivatingCloranmyselfforthelasttwoweeks。We’requitepals！I’mforplayingtheluckeverytime！Whenthejewelsshowedupto-day，Ifiguredthatto-night’sthenight-see？
CloranandIaregoingtosuppertogetherattheSilverSphinxatabouteleveno’clock-andthisiswhereyoushedtheGypsyNanstuff，andshowupasyourownsweetself。Cloran’llbegladtomeetyou！“
Shestaredathimingenuineperplexityandamazement。
“ShowmyselftoCloran！“sheejaculatedheavily。“Idon’tgetyou！“
“Youwillinaminute，“saidDanglarsoftly。“You’rethebait-see？CloranandIwillbeatsupperandwatchingthefox-trotters。
Youblowinandshowyourself-Idon’tneedtotellyouhow，you’recleverenoughatthatsortofthingyourself-andtheminuteherecognizesyouasthewomanhe’sbeenlookingforthatmurderedDeemer，youpretendtorecognizehimforthefirsttimetoo，andthenyoubeatitlikeyouhadthescareofyourlifeforthedoor。
He’llfollowyouonthejump。Idon’tknowwhatit’sallabout，andIsittight，andthatletsmeout。Andnowgetthis！There’llbetwotaxicabsoutside。Ifthere’smorethantwo，it’sthefirsttwoI’mtalkingabout。Youjumpintotheoneattheheadoftheline。Cloranwon’tneedanyinvitationtograbthesecondoneandfollowyou。That’sall！It’sthelastridehe’lltake。It’llbeourboys，andnotchauffeurs，who’llbedrivingthosecarsto-night，andthey’vegottheirorderswheretogo。Cloranwon’tcomeback。
Understand，Bertha’？“
Therewasonlyoneanswertomake，onlyoneanswerthatshedaredmake。Shemadeitmechanically，thoughherbrainreeled。AmannamedCloranwastobemurdered；andshewastoshowherselfasthis-thisBertha-and……
“Yes，“shesaid。
“Good！“saidDanglar。Hepulledouthiswatchagain。“Allright，then！We’vebeenherelongenough。“Herosebriskly。“It’stimetomakeamove。Youhopitbacktothegarret，andgetridofthatfancydress。I’vegottomeetCloranuptownfirst。Comeon，Matty，letusout。“
Theplacestifledher。Shegotupandmovedquicklythroughtheinterveningroom。SheheardDanglarandhiscrippledbrothertalkingearnestlytogetherastheyfollowedher。Andthenthecripplebrushedbyherinthedarkness，andopenedthefrontdoor-andDanglarhaddrawnhertohiminaquickembrace。Shedidnotstruggle；shedarednot。Herheartseemedtostandstill。Danglarwaswhisperinginherear:
“IpromisedI’dmakeituptoyou，Bertha，oldgirl。You’llsee-afterto-night。We’llhaveanotherhoney-moon。Yougoonaheadnow-Ican’tbeseenwithGypsyNan。Anddon’tbelate-theSilverSphinxateleven。“
Sheranoutonthestreet。Herfingersmechanicallyclutchedathershawltoloosenitaroundherthroat。Itseemedasthoughshewerechoking，thatshecouldnotbreathe。Theman’stouchuponherhadseemedlikecontactwithsomefoulandloathsomething；thesceneinthatroombacktherelikesomenightmareofhorrorfromwhichshecouldnotawake。
RhodaGrayhurriedonward，backtowardthegarret，hermindinriotanddismay。Itwasnotonlythebeginningoftheend；itwasveryneartheend！Whatwasshetodo？TheSilverSphinx-ateleven！
Thatwastheend-aftereleven-wasn’tit？ShecouldimpersonateGypsyNan；shecouldnot，ifshewould，impersonatethewomanwhowasdead！Andthen，too，therewerethestolenjewelsatoldJakeLuertz’s！Shecouldnotturntothepoliceforhelpthere，becausethenthePugmightfallintotheirhands，and-andthePugwas-wastheAdventurer。
Andthenasortoffatalisticcalmfelluponher。Ifthemasqueradewasover，iftheendhadcome，thereremainedonlyonethingforhertodo。Therewerenoriskstoodesperatetotakenow。Itwasshewhomuststrike，andstrikefirst。ThosejewelsinoldLuertz’sbedroombecamesuddenlyvitaltoher。Theyweretangibleevidence。
WiththosejewelsinherpossessionsheshouldbeabletoforceDanglartohisknees。Shecouldgetthem-beforePinkieBonnandthePug-ifshehurried。AfterwardshewouldknowwheretofindDanglar-attheSilverSphinx。NothingwouldhappentoCloran，because，throughherfailuretocooperate，theplanwouldbeabortive；but，veiled，astheWhiteMoll，shecouldpickupDanglar’strailagainthere。Yes，itwouldbetheend-onewayortheother-betweeneleveno’clockanddaylight！
Shequickenedhersteps。OldLuertzwastobeinveigledawayfromhishomeaboutteno’clock。Ataguess，shemadeitonlyalittleafterninenow。ShewouldneedtheskeletonkeysinordertogetintooldLuertz’splace，and，yes，shewouldneedaflashlight，too。
Well，shewouldhavetimeenoughtogetthem，andtimeenough，then，toruntothedesertedshedinthelanebehindthegarretandchangeherclothes。
RhodaGray，asGypsyNan，wentonasspeedilyasshedaredwithoutinvitingundueattentiontoherself，reachedthegarret，securedthearticlesshesought，hurriedoutagain，andwentdownthelaneinthereartothedesertedshed。Sheremainedlongerherethanintheattic，perhapstenminutes，workingmostlyinthedarkness，riskingtheflashlightonlywhenitwasimperative；andthen，themetamorphosiscomplete，aveiledfigure，inherownperson，asRhodaGray，theWhiteMoll，shewasoutonthestreetagain，andhasteningbackinthesamegeneraldirectionfromwhichshehadjustcome。
SheknewoldJakeLuertz’splace，andsheknewthemanhimselfveryintimatelybyreputation。Therewerefewsuchmenandsuchplacesthatshecouldhaveescapedknowingintheyearsofself-appointedservicethatshehadgiventotheworst，andperhapsthereforethemostneedy，elementinNewYork。Themanostensiblyconductedalittlesecondhandstore；inrealityheprobably“shoved“morestolengoodsforhisclientele，whichatonetimeoranotherundoubtedlyembracednearlyeverycrookintheunderworld，thananyother“fence“
inNewYork。Sheknewhimforanoily，cunningoldfoxwholivedaloneinthetworoomsoverhismiserablestore-unless，oflate，hisyounghenchman，theCrab，hadtakentolivingwithhim；though，asfarasthatwasconcerned，itmatteredlittleto-night，sincetheCrab，forthemoment，thankstothegang，waseliminatedfromconsideration。
Shereachedthesecondhandstore-andwalkedonpastit。Therewasalightupstairsinthefrontwindow。OldLuertzthereforehadnotyetgoneoutinresponsetothegang’sfakemessage。SheknewoldLuertz’sreputationfartoowellforthat；themanwouldnevergooutandleaveagasjetburning-whichhewouldhavetopayfor！
Therewasnothingtodobutwait。RhodaGraysoughttheshelterofadoorwayacrossthestreet。Shewasnervouslyimpatientnow。Theminutesdraggedalong。Whydidn’t’themanhurryandgoout？
“Aboutteno’clock，“Danglarhadsaid-butthatwasveryindefinite。
PinkieBonnandthePugmightbeaslateasthat；but，equally，theymightbeearlier！
Itseemedaninterminabletime。Andthen，hereyesstrainedacrossthestreetuponthatupperwindow，shedrewstillfartherbackintotheprotectingshadowsofthedoorway。Thelighthadgoneout。
Amomentmorepassed。Thestreetdoorofthehouseoppositetoher-adoorseparatefromthatofthesecondhandstore-opened，andabent，gray-beardedman，steppedout，peeredaround，lockedthedoorbehindhim，andscuffleddownthestreet。
RhodaGrayscannedthedingyandill-lightedlittlestreet。Itwasvirtuallydeserted。Shecrossedtheroad，andsteppedintothedoorwayfromwhichtheold“fence“hadjustemerged。Itwasdarkhere，welloutofthedirectradiusoftheneareststreetlamp，and，withluck，therewasnoreasonwhysheshouldbeobserved-ifshedidnottaketoolonginopeningthedoor！Shehadneveractuallyusedaskeletonkeyinherlifebefore，and……
Sheinsertedoneofhercollectionofkeysinthelock。Itwouldnotwork。Shetriedanother，andstillanother-withmountinganxietyandperplexity。Supposethat-yes！Thedoorwasopennow！
Withaquickglanceoverhershoulder，scanningthestreetinbothdirectionstomakesurethatshewasnotobserved，shesteppedinside，closedthedoor，andlockeditagain。
