id. Why should he seek
to conceal his identity?"

"We are here to discover the motive of his journey from Italy.
According to his passport he arrived from Irun. But if he had come
direct from Italy he would have come from the south--from Barcelona,
most probably."

"He has a house in Paris. No doubt he has followed his friend Suzor
from there. It will be interesting to watch."

As I spoke the pair passed up the steps of the hotel and were lost to
sight, therefore we turned and retraced our steps along the wide
Carrera de San Jeronimo to my hotel where, for an hour, Hambledon sat
in my room discussing the situation.

He suggested that he should move from the Palace Hotel to the Ritz,
which was only just opposite. At first it seemed a good idea, but on
reflection I did not agree, because I feared lest he might be
recognized by Suzor. De Gex, of course, would not know him, but with
Suzor the danger of recognition was always great. If either realized
that they were being watched, all chances of solving the problem would
instantly disappear. Only by secret and patient watchfulness could we
discover the motive of that amazing affair near Park Lane, and again
the truth of what actually occurred on that fateful November night.

"There is no doubt some further devil's game is in progress here," I
declared, as Harry sat upon my bed smoking a cigarette, while I was
stretched in an easy-chair. "And it is up to us to discover what it
is, and whether it has any bearing upon the plot against poor
Gabrielle Tennison."

"Yes," agreed Hambledon. "We must watch all their actions, for it is
now evident that this fellow Suzor is deeply implicated in the
conspiracy, whatever its nature."

CHAPTER THE FIFTEENTH

THE INTRUDER

During the next few days I remained idle in the hotel, not daring to
go out while it was light, and leaving the surveillance upon De Gex
and his friend to my old friend Hambledon.

Each night we met at one cafe or another as we appointed, when
he would report to me what he had witnessed during the day. It
seemed that De Gex--or Monsieur Thibon, as he preferred to call
himself--shared Suzor's private sitting-room and, curiously enough,
he also did not go out in the daytime!

After all, that was not surprising, for such a great figure in
international finance was probably well-known in the Spanish capital.
I had learnt that he had had a hand in the finances of Spain, and had
made some huge profits t