.

"Ah, he's all right then! Good."

"And, sir," Matthews added, "Scotland Yard telephoned to say that
the doctor is with Miss Mackwayte now."

Desmond started up.

"Is Miss Mackwayte ill?" he exclaimed.

The Chief answered slowly, as Matthews withdrew: "Mr. Mackwayte
was found murdered at his house early this morning!"

CHAPTER IV. MAJOR OKEWOOD ENCOUNTERS A NEW TYPE

There is a sinister ring about the word "murder," which reacts
upon even the most hardened sensibility. Edgar Allan Poe, who was
a master of the suggestive use of words, realized this when he
called the greatest detective story ever written "The Murders in
the Rue Morgue." From the very beginning of the war, Desmond had
seen death in all its forms but that word "murdered," spoken with
slow emphasis in the quiet room, gave him an ugly chill feeling
round the heart that he had never experienced on the battlefield.

"Murdered!" Desmond repeated dully and sat down. He felt stunned.
He was not thinking of the gentle old man cruelly done to death
or of the pretty Barbara prostrate with grief. He was overawed by
the curious fatality that had plucked him from the horrors of
Flanders only to plunge him into a tragedy at home.

"Yes," said the Chief bluntly, "by a burglar apparently--the
house was ransacked!"

"Chief," he broke out, "you must explain. I'm all at sea! Why did
you send for me? What have you got to do with criminal cases,
anyway? Surely, this is a Scotland Yard matter!"

The Chief shook his head.

"I sent for you in default of your brother, Okewood!" he said.
"You once refused an offer of mine to take you into my service,
but this time I had to have you, so I got the War Office to
wire..."

"Then my appointment for ten o'clock to-day was with you?"
Desmond exclaimed in astonishment.

The Chief nodded.

"It was," he said curtly.

"But," protested Desmond feebly, "did you know about this murder
beforehand!"

The Chief threw back his head and laughed.

"My dear fellow," he said; "I'm not quite so deep as all that. I
haven't second sight, you know!"

"You've got something devilish like it, sir!" said Desmond. "How
on earth did you know that I was at the Palaceum last night?"

The Chief smiled grimly.

"Oh, that's very simple," he said. "Shall I tell you some more
about yourself? You sat..." he glanced down at the desk in front
of him,"... in Stall E 52 and, after Nur-el-Din's turn,
Strangwise took you round and introdu