he not systematically robbed dear old Liz? Are not the
Railway Share Lists and Reports open to inspection?"

"True, Dora, true. Be not indignant. I have admitted that you may be
right. Our detective will soon find out. He has the calm,
self-confident, penetrating look of a man who could, if possible, screw
something out of nothing."

Whether or not Mr Dean possessed the power ascribed to him is yet to be
seen. We have not space to follow him through the whole of the
serpentine sinuosities of his investigations, but we will watch him at
one or two salient points of his course.

First of all he visited Tommy Splint, who, in the privacy of his
"boodwar" revealed to him, as he thought, every scrap of information
about the affair that he possessed. To all of this Mr Dean listened in
perfect silence, patiently, and with a smile of universal benevolence.
He not only appreciated all the boy's commentaries and jests and
prophecies on the situation, but encouraged the full development of his
communicative disposition. Tommy was charmed. Never before had he met
with such an audience--except, perhaps, in Susy.

When the boy had fairly run himself out Mr Dean proceeded to pump and
squeeze, and the amount of relevant matter that he pumped and squeezed
out of him, in cross-questioning, was so great, that Tommy was lost in a
mixture of admiration and humility. You see, up to that time he had
thought himself rather a knowing fellow; but Mr Dean managed to remove
the scales from his eyes.

"Now, my boy," said the detective, after having squeezed him quite flat,
and screwed the very last drop out of him, "you are quite sure, I
suppose, as to Mr Trumps's words--namely, that he knew Mrs Morley--
chimney-pot Liz, as you call her--"

"Parding. I never called her that--chimley-pot is her name."

"Well, chimley-pot be it--and that he had formerly known Mr Lockhart
but did not say when or where he had first become acquainted with
either; yet Trumps's peculiar look and manner when speaking of the
lawyer led you to think he knew more about him than he chose to tell?"

"Right you air, sir. That's 'ow it stands."

"Good; and in reference to the servant-girl--you are sure that she
became suddenly very earnest when she said she believed Laidlaw was not
guilty, and that she and some one named Mary had `seen something,' but
you don't know what, owing to a sudden interruption?"

"Right again, sir."

"Now, then," said Mr Dean, ri