spector," I said, "if you intend to detain me without
sufficient reason, you'll find it an awkward matter." The inspector
looked a trifle uncomfortable.

"We shall have to take our chance of that," he said, rather sullenly,
"we've only got our duty to do, Mr. Anstruther. You can have bail, I
should think."

"Bail!" I repeated, "how am I to get bail? I don't know a soul in the
town."

The inspector shrugged his shoulders and motioned me into a railed
space in the centre of the office.

There was no help for it, so I went and placed myself as he desired in
the little dock, and a constable standing there obligingly clamped down
a rail behind me to keep me there. Then the doctor, who, it turned
out, was some official in the town, gave a garbled version of the whole
affair, which I found it useless to try and contradict, as I was told
to hold my tongue. The inspector's version of the affair was even more
insulting than the doctor's. He did not hesitate to express his
opinion that I was a very suspicious person, probably a lunatic at
large. When asked if I had anything to say, my remark summed up the
situation, tersely, in a few words.

"This is a parcel of d--d rot!" I said.

Then they searched me.

The inspector simply gloated over Saumarez' revolver when I turned it
out of my pocket, and this feeling rose to an absolute thrill of
triumph when he discovered that one of the chambers had been discharged.

In my heart, I was thankful that I had sent those two packets and the
key to my lawyers.

While the inspector was hanging fondly over Saumarez' glass eye, which
one energetic young constable had furraged out of the corner of my
waistcoat pocket, an idea struck me which ought to have occurred to me
before.

I had come to Bath with a letter of introduction to a certain doctor, a
Dr. Mainwaring; I would send for him.

"Look here, Mr. Inspector," I said, "when you've quite finished
rattling me about, I have two suggestions to make. One is to send some
of your men to try if they can find the old lady whose throat has been
cut, and the other is to send for Dr. Mainwaring, who knows me. I warn
you that if you lock me up you will get into trouble."

At the mention of Dr. Mainwaring, Dr. Redfern, who was still there,
pricked up his ears.

"Dr. Mainwaring!" he repeated. "Do you know him?"

"I came here about ten days ago," I answered, "with a letter of
introduction to him from Sir Belgrave Walpole. I've n