that night, and stayed here until
the next morning."

"What time did he arrive?"

"About ten o'clock, or, to be precise," said Jorce, "about ten-thirty."

"Ah!" cried Lucian exultantly, "then Ferruci must have been the man in
the back yard!"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Jorce in a puzzled tone.

"Why, that Count Ferruci has had to do with a crime committed some
months ago in Pimlico. A man called Mark Vrain was murdered, as you may
have seen in the papers, Doctor, and I believe Ferruci murdered him."

"If I remember rightly," said Jorce with calmness, "the man in question
was murdered shortly before midnight on Christmas Eve. If that is so,
Ferruci could not have killed him, because, as I said before, he was
here at half-past ten on that night."

"I don't say he actually killed the man," explained Lucian eagerly, "but
he certainly employed some one to strike the blow, else what was he
doing in the Jersey Street yard on that night? You can say what you
like, Dr. Jorce, but that man is guilty of Mark Vrain's death."

"No," replied Jorce coolly, "he's not, for the simple reason that Vrain
is not dead."

"Not dead?" repeated Lucian, recalling Diana's belief.

"No! For the last few months Mark Vrain, under the name of Michael
Clear, has been in this asylum!"

CHAPTER XXV

A DARK PLOT

"So Vrain is alive, after all!" was Lucian's comment on the speech of
Jorce, "and he is here under your charge? Jove! it's wonderful! Diana
was right, after all!"

"Diana? Who is Diana?" queried Jorce, then held up his hand to stop his
visitor from replying. "Wait! I know! Vrain mentioned his daughter
Diana."

"Yes, she is the daughter of Vrain, and she believes her father to be
alive."

"On what grounds?"

"Because the dead man, whom, until lately, she believed to be Mr. Vrain,
had one of his little fingers missing. That fact came to her knowledge
only a week ago. When it did, she declared that the deceased could not
be her father."

"H'm!" said Jorce thoughtfully, "I am quite in the dark as to why Mr.
Vrain was put under my charge."

"Because Ferruci wished to marry his widow."

"I see! Ferruci substituted another man for my patient and had him
killed."

"Evidently," replied Lucian; "but I am almost as much in the dark as
you are, Dr. Jorce. Tell me how Vrain came to be placed here, and,
exchanging confidence for confidence, I'll let you know all I have
discovered since the death of the man in Gene