There it lay--the motive--the precious fragment of blue-print which she had torn from Fleming's grasp but an instant before he was shot down.

Once Anderson found it in her possession the case was closed, the evidence against her overwhelming.

She could not destroy it--it was the only clue to the Hidden Room and the truth that might clear Jack Bailey.
But, somehow, she must hide it--get it out of her hands--before Anderson's third-degree methods broke her down or he insisted on a search of her person.

Her eyes roved wildly about the room, looking for a hiding place.
The rain of Anderson's questions began anew.
"What papers did Fleming burn in that grate ?" he asked abruptly, turning back to Dale.
"Papers!" she faltered.
"Papers! The ashes are still there." Miss Cornelia made an unavailing interruption.
"Miss Ogden has said he didn't come into this room." The detective smiled.
"I hold in my hand proof that he was in this room for some time," he said coldly, displaying the half-burned cigarette he had taken from the ash tray a moment before.
"His cigarette--with his monogram on it." He put the fragment of tobacco and paper carefully away in an envelope and marched over to the fireplace.

There he rummaged among the ashes for a moment, like a dog uncovering a bone.