ribed the colour and shape
of the missing case.

Then there was silence, which was only broken by the rustling noise that
Glyn was making as he went on with the search till he had finished,
closed the last drawer, locked it, and taken out the key. Then, with
sinking heart, he said quietly, "I am afraid he's right, sir. It's
gone."

"Is there any other receptacle," said the Doctor, "in which it could
have been placed?"

"No, sir," said Singh bitterly; "there is nowhere else."

"I am thinking," said the Doctor, "that it has not been stolen. If it
had been, the person who took it would have been content with rolling up
the girdle, as you say it was of soft leather, placing it in his pocket,
reclosing the case, and leaving it behind--for two reasons: one, that it
would be noticeable if carried about; another, that it might lie shut up
in your box for any length of time, with the change that had taken place
unsuspected. For, going to your box again and again and seeing the case
there, the chances are that you would not have opened it to note that
the contents were safe."

The Doctor was silent for a minute or two. Then--"So there is no other
receptacle in the room where the belt could have been placed?"

"No, sir," said Singh, with a scarcely perceptible sneer in his tones.
"There is nowhere else, sir, unless Glyn has put it away in his own
drawers so as to keep it safe."

"Oh!" cried Glyn, starting round angrily.

"Be silent, my boy," said the Doctor, laying his white hand upon the
boy's shoulder. "Such a thing is quite possible, as I have previously
explained. I was about to ask you to open the drawers yonder."

"But, oh, sir," cried Glyn, "you don't think--"

"My dear boy, no," replied the Doctor, with a look which made Glyn
eagerly take out his keys, rapidly unlock every drawer, and then turn to
Singh with a keen, angry look upon his countenance, which was now
growing hard; and as he pointed towards the drawers he uttered hoarsely
the one word, "Look."

"No," said the Doctor gravely. "Examine the drawers yourself, Severn.
You feel now that it is impossible that you can have done this thing.
Possibly, perhaps, after coming into the room alone and finding that
your companion had left his own keys in his box--"

"I did find them like that, sir, twice."

"Ah," said the Doctor, "and changed the _locale_ of the missing belt."

"No, sir," said Glyn. "I only took the keys out after seeing that the
trun