her memory."
"It's come back?" cried Julius excitedly.
Sir James tapped the table rather impatiently.
"Undoubtedly, Mr. Hersheimmer, since she was able to give her real name.
I thought you had appreciated that point."
"And you just happened to be on the spot," said Tommy. "Seems quite like
a fairy tale."
But Sir James was far too wary to be drawn.
"Coincidences are curious things," he said dryly.
Nevertheless Tommy was now certain of what he had before only suspected.
Sir James's presence in Manchester was not accidental. Far from
abandoning the case, as Julius supposed, he had by some means of his own
successfully run the missing girl to earth. The only thing that puzzled
Tommy was the reason for all this secrecy. He concluded that it was a
foible of the legal mind.
Julius was speaking.
"After dinner," he announced, "I shall go right away and see Jane."
"That will be impossible, I fear," said Sir James. "It is very unlikely
they would allow her to see visitors at this time of night. I should
suggest to-morrow morning about ten o'clock."
Julius flushed. There was something in Sir James which always stirred
him to antagonism. It was a conflict of two masterful personalities.
"All the same, I reckon I'll go round there to-night and see if I can't
ginger them up to break through their silly rules."
"It will be quite useless, Mr. Hersheimmer."
The words came out like the crack of a pistol, and Tommy looked up with
a start. Julius was nervous and excited. The hand with which he raised
his glass to his lips shook slightly, but his eyes held Sir James's
defiantly. For a moment the hostility between the two seemed likely to
burst into flame, but in the end Julius lowered his eyes, defeated.
"For the moment, I reckon you're the boss."
"Thank you," said the other. "We will say ten o'clock then?" With
consummate ease of manner he turned to Tommy. "I must confess, Mr.
Beresford, that it was something of a surprise to me to see you here
this evening. The last I heard of you was that your friends were in
grave anxiety on your behalf. Nothing had been heard of you for
some days, and Miss Tuppence was inclined to think you had got into
difficulties."
"I had, sir!" Tommy grinned reminiscently. "I was never in a tighter
place in my life."
Helped out by questions from Sir James, he gave an abbreviated account
of his adventures. The lawyer looked at him with renewed interest as he
brought the tale
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