astle
walls could come in here," he said.

"Yes, your lordship."

"Very well. Let's go back up."

* * * * *

In the small office which Lord Darcy and his staff had been assigned
while conducting the investigation, three men watched while a fourth
conducted a demonstration on a table in the center of the room.

Master Sean O Lochlainn held up an intricately engraved gold button
with an Arabesque pattern and a diamond set in the center.

He looked at the other three. "Now, my lord, your Reverence, and
colleague Doctor, I call your attention to this button."

Dr. Pateley smiled and Father Bright looked stern. Lord Darcy merely
stuffed tobacco--imported from the southern New England counties on
the Gulf--into a German-made porcelain pipe. He allowed Master Sean a
certain amount of flamboyance; good sorcerers were hard to come by.

"Will you hold the robe, Dr. Pateley? Thank you. Now, stand back.
That's it. Thank you. Now, I place the button on the table, a good ten
feet from the robe." Then he muttered something under his breath and
dusted a bit of powder on the button. He made a few passes over it
with his hands, paused, and looked up at Father Bright. "If you will,
Reverend Sir?"

Father Bright solemnly raised his right hand, and, as he made the Sign
of the Cross, said: "May this demonstration, O God, be in strict
accord with the truth, and may the Evil One not in any way deceive us
who are witnesses thereto. In the Name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

"Amen," the other three chorused.

Master Sean crossed himself, then muttered something under his breath.

The button leaped from the table, slammed itself against the robe
which Dr. Pateley held before him, and stuck there as though it had
been sewed on by an expert.

"Ha!" said Master Sean. "As I thought!" He gave the other three men a
broad, beaming smile. "The two were definitely connected!"

Lord Darcy looked bored. "Time?" he asked.

[Illustration]

"In a moment, my lord," Master Sean said apologetically. "In a
moment." While the other three watched, the sorcerer went through more
spells with the button and the robe, although none were quite so
spectacular as the first demonstration. Finally, Master Sean said:
"About eleven thirty last night they were torn apart, my lord. But I
shouldn't like to make it any more definite than to say between
eleven and midnight. The speed with which it ret