nine
o'clock
Before I found her , however , I saw in the papers that Ferruci had committed suicide ; also that Lydia -- who had gone to Dover to meet me , thinking I was returning from Paris -- had been arrested . Then I saw Mrs. Clear 's advertisement saying she would betray me if I did not pay the money . I consented to meet her in order to implore her silence , and so fell into the clutches of the law . `` I may state that I did not kill Clear , as I never saw him after nine o'clock , and then he was alive . In spite of what the doctor said , I am still inclined to think he killed himself . Now I have made a clean breast of it -- I am willing to be punished ; but I hope Lydia will be set free , for whosoever is guilty , she is innocent . I have been an unlucky man , and I remain one at this moment when I sign myself for the last time , JABEZ CLYNE . ''