of the elusive "shadows." My arrival, manifestly,
had frightened them away.

I put in a portion of the time until nightfall going carefully over the
old house again, from cellar to roof. My purpose now was to ascertain
whether there were any secret passages or concealed openings whereby we
might be surprised; and my labors convinced me that there were none.
The face which Genevieve saw at the alcove curtains could be easily
accounted for, since, with the exception of Stodger, who was in the
second story, and the officer in the lower hall, everybody in the house
was assembled in the library, and, of course, completely absorbed in
the inquest. It had been an easy matter to open one of the lower
windows, or even one of the rear or side doors, and enter the house.

I found that the walls were all of an even, normal thickness, and there
were no spaces between floors or walls for which I did not
satisfactorily account. I also kept a watchful eye for the prototype
of the designs on the cipher, but discovered nothing that was at all
like them.

Otherwise the day proved to be wholly uneventful. I spent much time in
consideration of my case, naturally; but this exercise yielded nothing
more conclusive than that Alfred Fluette's place in it was assuming
larger and larger proportions as time went by.

I was much impressed with Maillot's charge to watch Burke. But here
again I was offered no new light. It was satisfying to know that
another than myself was distrustful of the erstwhile secretary; but as
for watching him--well, I knew that he was being subjected to a
constant espionage that left nothing to be desired.

It was, doubtless, the emphasis which Maillot had laid upon Burke's
secret visits to Fluette that engaged my interest. I would have liked
very much to know what they portended. If the slippery secretary had
been carrying on negotiations with the millionaire for the Paternoster
ruby, then the latter's position relative to the murder stood out quite
clearly. With knowledge of those interviews in my possession I would
be in a position to lay my case before the State's Attorney, who,
beyond question, would procure a warrant for Fluette's immediate arrest.

What a sensation that would create!--Alfred Fluette charged with the
murder of his rival and bitter enemy, Felix Page! It would be
particularly startling inasmuch as a coroner's jury had already
fastened the crime upon another man. I believe the reader