pected the existence of this high-class gambling den;
but it was not until they had put Muller in charge of the case, that
there were any results attained. The arrests were made at the risk of
permanent injury to the celebrated detective. Since then, Muller's step
was more noiseless than usual, and now the woman who opened the gate
and peered out cautiously did not hear his approach nor did she see him
standing in the shadow of the fence. She looked towards the other end
of the street, then turned and spoke to somebody behind her. "There's
nobody coming from that direction," he said. Then she turned her head
the other way and saw Muller. She looked at him for a moment and slammed
the gate shut, disappearing behind it. Muller heard the lock click and
heard the beat of running feet hastening rapidly over the gravel path
through the garden.

The detective stood immediately in front of the gate, shaking his head.
"What was the matter with the woman? What was it that she wanted to see
or do in the street? Why should she run away when she saw me?" These
were his thoughts. But he didn't waste time in merely thinking. Muller
never did. Action followed thought with him very quickly. He saw a
knot-hole in the fence just beside the gate and he applied his eyes
to this knot-hole. And through the knot-hole he saw something that
interested and surprised him.

The woman whose face had appeared so suddenly at the gate, and
disappeared still more suddenly, was the same woman whom he had seen
bidding farewell to Mr. Thorne and his wife on the Tuesday morning
previous, the woman whom he took to be the housekeeper. The old butler
stood beside her. It was undoubtedly the same man, although he had worn
a livery then and was now dressed in a comfortable old house coat.
He stood beside the woman, shaking his head and asking her just the
questions that Muller was asking himself at the moment.

"Why, what is the matter with you, Mrs. Bernaner? You're so nervous
since yesterday. Are you ill? Everything seems to frighten you? Why did
you run away from that gate so suddenly? I thought you wanted me to show
you the place?"

Mrs. Bernauer raised her head and Muller saw that her face looked pale
and haggard and that her eyes shone with an uneasy feverish light. She
did not answer the old man's questions, but made a gesture of farewell
and then turned and walked slowly towards the house. She realised,
apparently, and feared, perhaps, that the man w