ke. "Have you a telephone in the house, Major Temple?" he
asked.

"Yes," answered the Major, rousing himself from his lethargy. "In the
hall, near the foot of the staircase."

The Inspector nodded to McQuade, who arose without a word and left the
room. I knew that Muriel had not yet had time to reach London, that,
when she did so, it would be to step into the arms of an officer. The
net was fast closing about someone, but about whom I could not yet see.
I was lost in a maze of conflicting thoughts.

"Mr. Morgan, have you anything to say in explanation of this letter?" I
heard Major Temple asking me. His voice came to me as from afar off. I
looked up and shook off my growing fears.

"Miss Temple writes as though she believed you would understand what she
means," I replied. "I certainly do not."

"I!" cried the Major. "It's absolute nonsense to me. Why should she want
to see you, unless you understood something between you? What does she
know, that she should speak, and for what does she seek for
forgiveness?" He threw up his hands in absolute dismay. If this were
acting, I thought, it could not be better done by the most renowned
actor on the boards.

"You remember, Major Temple, that your daughter refused to tell what it
was she saw, or what happened, that caused her to return to the house so
suddenly that morning. I advised her to speak--she refused. Had she come
to me to-night, I should have given her the same advice as before.
Nothing that she can say would harm me."

"Nor me," retorted Major Temple.

"Then whom, in Heaven's name?" I cried, speaking my thoughts aloud.

"You have heard my theory of the murder, Mr. Morgan," said the
Inspector, coldly. "Why not herself? The note is plain enough. She will
speak--she will confess and accuse herself before she will allow you to
bear the penalty of her crime."

"Her crime!" Major Temple was on his feet in an instant, his eyes
blazing. "Your words are ill chosen, sir." Poor man, he did not know of
the damning circumstances which the Inspector had so cleverly woven into
his accusing theory.

"Not at all, Major Temple," replied the imperturbable Inspector.
"Sergeant McQuade is at present ordering the arrest of your daughter.
She will be apprehended as soon as she arrives in London, and we will
hear her story at the Magistrate's hearing to-morrow."

"But," I cried, in consternation, "this is ridiculous. Don't you see
that--?"

"Mr. Morgan, the time has come for