he chicken for the servants' hall, and
giving him a generous portion, and Minnie was off to her room to prink
up and change for the evening, Dollops opened his master's letter and
scanned the few lines written upon it.

"Be under the big gate by twelve o'clock to-night," it said. "Hear all
news then. Burn this."

So when Jarvis returned Dollops was lighting a cigarette from a twist of
note-paper, which, upon sight of the big plate of steaming-hot chicken
that awaited him, he promptly threw into the fire, watching
absent-mindedly until it had become a charred fragment, and then set to
upon the feast with a vengeance.

* * * * *

Meanwhile Cleek, dinner at last over--a meal passed in sober silence,
with the shadow of that dead Thing still hanging over the diners and
wiping the joy of life from their faces--went with Mr. Narkom out upon
the terrace, cigars alight, and discussed with him the probabilities and
possibilities of the whole affair, comparing notes with the
Superintendent and jotting down in his business-like way any ideas that
occurred to him as they talked together, until his cuff was covered over
with pencil scrawls and the furrow between his eyes had deepened
considerably.

Slowly the evening wore itself away, the presence of the silent-watching
constabulary in the house making all friendliness between hosts and
unwanted guests a matter of impossibility. Women and men drew together
in little knots, discussing the affair in low-pitched voices, and even
Maud Duggan's eyes held something of accusation now when they dwelt upon
Cleek's face, so that at length he took Mr. Narkom by the arm and drew
him toward the door.

"Come, old friend," he said quietly. "We are intruders here, you and I.
These other poor folk cannot be at rest in our presence. Come along to
the library once more, and have a look about it. The place draws me, I
must say. For I still believe that the secret of the whole terrible
thing lies there. To-morrow afternoon is to be Coroner's Inquest--a
hateful proceeding, to say the least of it--and I've given myself just
that time to solve the mystery."

"Cinnamon! And you don't imagine you're going to, do you, Cleek?"
returned Mr. Narkom excitedly, as they passed down the passage together
and entered the room. "That's rather a tall order, I must say. Seems as
if we'd scoured this room from end to end."

"And yet, from what I heard from Master Cyril a short while