e sure that there has
been no misunderstanding about Miss Mackwayte. You say your
housekeeper was already here when you came back from the Dyke
Inn. She may have seen her. Let's have old Martha in!"

Between fright, bewilderment and indignation at the invasion of
the house, old Martha was, if anything, deafer and more stupid
than usual. After much interrogation they had to be satisfied
with her repeated assertion that "she 'adn't seen no young lady"
and allowed her to hobble back to her kitchen.

The two brothers stared at one another blankly. Francis was the
first to speak. His eyes were shining and his manner was rather
tense.

"Des," he asked; "what do you make of it? From what Strangwise
let fall in the library here tonight, it seems probable that Miss
Mackwayte, instead of coming here to see you as she was told--or
she may have called during your absence--went to the Dyke Inn and
saw Nur-el-Din. The muffed cry you heard at the inn suggests foul
play to me and that suspicion is deepened in my mind by the fact
that Matthews found Nur-el-Din at the Dyke Inn, as he reported to
me by telephone just now; but he says nothing about Miss
Mackwayte. Des, I fear the worst for that poor girl if she has
fallen into the hands of that gang!"

Desmond remained silent for a moment. He was trying to piece
things together as best as his aching head would allow. Both
Nur-el-Din and Strangwise were after the jewel. Nur-el-Din
believed that afternoon that Strangwise had it, while Strangwise,
on discovering his loss, had seemed to suggest that Barbara
Mackwayte had recovered it.

"Either Strangwise or Nur-el-Din, perhaps both of them," said
Desmond, "must know what has become of Miss Mackwayte."

And he explained his reasoning to Francis. His brother nodded
quickly.

"Then Nur-el-Din shall tell us," he answered sternly.

"They've arrested her?" asked Desmond with a sudden pang.

"Yes," said Francis curtly. But too late to prevent a crime being
committed. When Matthews and his party arrived, they found
Nur-el-Din in the very act of leaving the inn. The landlord,
Rass, was lying dead on the floor of the tap-room with a bullet
through the temple. That looks to me, Des, as though Nur-el-Din
had recovered the jewel!"

"But Rass is a compatriot of hers," Desmond objected.

"But he was also an inconvenient witness of her dealings with
Strangwise," retorted Francis. "If either Nur-el-Din or
Strangwise have regained possession of