g little man, undersized, with thin frame and watery
eyes. His mouth, however, was hard, and there were some tell-tale little
lines at its corners.

"None whatever, I am sorry to say, Mr. Ledsam," he admitted. "At present
we are quite in the dark."

"You found the weapon, I hear?"

Shopland nodded.

"It was just an ordinary service revolver, dating from the time of the
war, exactly like a hundred thousand others. The enquiries we were able
to make from it came to nothing."

"Where was it picked up?"

"In the middle of the waste plot of ground next to Soto's. The murderer
evidently threw it there the moment he had discharged it. He must have
been wearing rubber-soled shoes, for not a soul heard him go."

Francis nodded thoughtfully.

"I wonder," he said, after a slight pause, "whether it ever occurred to
you to interview Miss Daisy Hyslop, the young lady who was with Bidlake
on the night of his murder?"

"I called upon her the day afterwards," the detective answered.

"She had nothing to say?"

"Nothing whatever."

"Indirectly, of course," Francis continued, "the poor girl was the cause
of his death. If she had not insisted upon his going out for a taxicab,
the man who was loitering about would probably have never got hold of
him."

The detective glanced up furtively at the speaker. He seemed to reflect
for a moment.

"I gathered," he said, "in conversation with the commissionaire, that
Miss Hyslop was a little impatient that night. It seems, however,
that she was anxious to get to a ball which was being given down in
Kensington."

"There was a ball, was there?" Francis asked.

"Without a doubt," the detective replied. "It was given by a Miss Clara
Bultiwell. She happens to remember urging Miss Hyslop to come on as
early as possible."

"So that's that," Francis observed.

"Just so, Mr. Ledsam," the detective murmured.

They were walking along the Mall now, eastwards. The detective, who
seemed to have been just a saunterer, had accommodated himself to
Francis' destination.

"Let me see, there was nothing stolen from the young man's person, was
there?" Francis asked presently.

"Apparently nothing at all, sir."

"And I gather that you have made every possible enquiry as to the young
man's relations with his friends?"

"So far as one can learn, sir, they seem to have been perfectly
amicable."

"Of course," Francis remarked presently, "this may have been quite a
purposeless affair. The deed