ouch and go," he muttered. "I wish that young fellow would hurry up
with the brandy."

At that moment Julius re-entered the room, carrying a glass half full of
the spirit which he handed to Sir James. While Tuppence lifted her head
the lawyer tried to force a little of the spirit between her closed
lips. Finally the woman opened her eyes feebly. Tuppence held the glass
to her lips.

"Drink this."

Mrs. Vandemeyer complied. The brandy brought the colour back to her
white cheeks, and revived her in a marvellous fashion. She tried to sit
up--then fell back with a groan, her hand to her side.

"It's my heart," she whispered. "I mustn't talk."

She lay back with closed eyes.

Sir James kept his finger on her wrist a minute longer, then withdrew it
with a nod.

"She'll do now."

All three moved away, and stood together talking in low voices. One
and all were conscious of a certain feeling of anticlimax. Clearly any
scheme for cross-questioning the lady was out of the question for the
moment. For the time being they were baffled, and could do nothing.

Tuppence related how Mrs. Vandemeyer had declared herself willing
to disclose the identity of Mr. Brown, and how she had consented to
discover and reveal to them the whereabouts of Jane Finn. Julius was
congratulatory.

"That's all right, Miss Tuppence. Splendid! I guess that hundred
thousand pounds will look just as good in the morning to the lady as it
did over night. There's nothing to worry over. She won't speak without
the cash anyway, you bet!"

There was certainly a good deal of common sense in this, and Tuppence
felt a little comforted.

"What you say is true," said Sir James meditatively. "I must confess,
however, that I cannot help wishing we had not interrupted at the minute
we did. Still, it cannot be helped, it is only a matter of waiting until
the morning."

He looked across at the inert figure on the bed. Mrs. Vandemeyer lay
perfectly passive with closed eyes. He shook his head.

"Well," said Tuppence, with an attempt at cheerfulness, "we must wait
until the morning, that's all. But I don't think we ought to leave the
flat."

"What about leaving that bright boy of yours on guard?"

"Albert? And suppose she came round again and hooked it. Albert couldn't
stop her."

"I guess she won't want to make tracks away from the dollars."

"She might. She seemed very frightened of 'Mr. Brown.'"

"What? Real plumb scared of him?"

"Yes. She looked r