eir sale is safely deposited in a Belgian bank."

"But then, who murdered Lady Donaldson, and why?" gasped Polly.

"Cannot you guess?" he queried blandly. "Have I not placed the case
clearly enough before you? To me it seems so simple. It was a daring,
brutal murder, remember. Think of one who, not being the thief himself,
would, nevertheless, have the strongest of all motives to shield the
thief from the consequences of her own misdeed: aye! and the power
too--since it would be absolutely illogical, nay, impossible, that he
should be an accomplice."

"Surely----"

"Think of a curious nature, warped morally, as well as physically--do
you know how those natures feel? A thousand times more strongly than the
even, straight natures in everyday life. Then think of such a nature
brought face to face with this awful problem.

"Do you think that such a nature would hesitate a moment before
committing a crime to save the loved one from the consequences of that
deed? Mind you, I don't assert for a moment that David Graham had any
_intention_ of murdering Lady Donaldson. Tremlett tells him that she
seems strangely upset; he goes to her room and finds that she has
discovered that she has been robbed. She naturally suspects Edith
Crawford, recollects the incidents of the other night, and probably
expresses her feelings to David Graham, and threatens immediate
prosecution, scandal, what you will.

"I repeat it again, I dare say he had no wish to kill her. Probably he
merely threatened to. A medical gentleman who spoke of sudden heart
failure was no doubt right. Then imagine David Graham's remorse, his
horror and his fears. The empty safe probably is the first object that
suggested to him the grim tableau of robbery and murder, which he
arranges in order to ensure his own safety.

"But remember one thing: no miscreant was seen to enter or leave the
house surreptitiously; the murderer left no signs of entrance, and none
of exit. An armed burglar would have left some trace--_some one_ would
have heard _something_. Then who locked and unlocked Lady Donaldson's
door that night while she herself lay dead?

"Some one in the house, I tell you--some one who left no trace--some one
against whom there could be no suspicion--some one who killed without
apparently the slightest premeditation, and without the slightest
motive. Think of it--I know I am right--and then tell me if I have at
all enlisted your sympathies in the author of the E