tragedy than had yet
appeared upon the surface, yet, believing thoroughly in the innocence of
Miss Temple of any part in the affair, I mentally resolved to do all in
my power to sift it to the bottom. I had no illusions as to any special
skill upon my part as an amateur detective, and I did not propose to
come forth equipped with magnifying glass and tape measure and solve the
problem in the usual half-hour which sufficed for the superhuman sleuth
of fiction, but I felt that I did possess common sense and a reasonably
acute brain, and I believed that, with sufficient time and effort, I
could find out how and why Robert Ashton had come to his sudden and
tragic end. My thoughts were interrupted by Sergeant McQuade, who,
having brought his examination to a sudden close, announced to Major
Temple that the police and the divisional surgeon would arrive shortly
and that meanwhile he would have a look at the grounds beneath the
windows of the room. I decided to accompany him, but, before doing so, I
suggested to the Major that it might be well to show Sergeant McQuade
the scrap of paper, containing the single Chinese character, which we
had found upon the floor. Major Temple took it from his pocket and
handed it to the detective without a word. I could see that the latter
was puzzled. "What does it mean?" he inquired. "Do you know?" He turned
to Major Temple.

"Only that it is a religious symbol used by the Buddhist priests in
China," said the latter. "It is found in their temples, and is supposed
to ward off evil influences."

"Is there any reason to suppose," inquired McQuade, "that its presence
here indicates that the room has been entered by Li Min or any of his
countrymen, in an attempt to recover the emerald which I understand Mr.
Ashton had with him? Might it not equally well have belonged to the dead
man himself--a copy, perhaps, made by him of the character--a curiosity
in other words, which he might have desired to preserve?"

I followed his line of reasoning. I had told him nothing of the
relations between Miss Temple and Ashton, but it was evident that the
finding of her handkerchief in the murdered man's room had started him
off on another tack.

"None whatever," the Major responded. "Yet since the jewel has
disappeared, its recovery was in my opinion beyond question the reason
for the murder, and but four persons knew of the presence of the jewel
in this house."

"And they were--?" The detective paused.