publicity, of which I get rather tired at times in spite of its
lucrative side, I want to call your attention to something--I was going
to say under our noses--something close by."

They gazed at me in doubt and then looked at each other. Mac made
allusion, tapping his forehead the while, to the strain of Christmas
work. And they shook their heads.

"Well, go on," humoured Bill, rising to bring in the coffee.

"What's this wonderful something you've discovered?"

"I have reason to believe," I said, without looking up from my plate,
"that Mrs. Carville had a visitor last night."

"No!" they ejaculated in unison. I nodded.

"You miss something by sleeping at the back. Just as I was comfortably
in bed, the room was flooded with the blinding white glare that
indicates a passing automobile. This particular white glare, however,
did not vanish as usual. It remained. My attention, which was only
partially aware of it, gradually became undivided and led me to sit up
and look out. A large car stood opposite the house next door, the two
headlights showing up the roadway and sidewalk all down the street. Even
as I watched, a tall figure came down from the house and the lights went
out. I could see the car plainly as a dark mass under the trees. And
that, for the best part of half an hour, was all I did see. I lay down
again and tried to focus my mind on this problem. I don't mind admitting
I am still without a solution. I lay there thinking all sorts until the
white glare suddenly illuminated the room again. I looked out. The car
moved, turned slowly round, and sped away down Pine Street."

They sat and looked at me.

"I know I ought to have told you before," I said, "but the fact is I was
so puzzled this morning when I woke and remembered the incident, that I
didn't know what to do. It seems silly, if you look at it in the cold
light of day, to draw any conclusions from such a trivial thing. I mean,
if we had known nothing about them...."

"You think he's visiting her?" said Bill gravely.

"I didn't say so," I answered, "but the notion was in my mind,
certainly. If so, why should he not? If Mac had a brother, and he came
to New York he would not hesitate to come and see you."

"Not in the middle of the night," she objected.

"No, unless he was pressed for time, and had, shall we say, more urgent
claims on his attention."

"Perhaps he came to visit his brother, not knowing he was away just
now."

"I thought of th