ad than by the
market one. So I directed my attention to the ground in front, and on
the further side of the driveways. _And I found the neck of that bottle_!

"Yes, sir, I will show it to you later. I picked it up at some distance
from the northern driveway, under a small tree, against the trunk of
which it had evidently been struck off. This meant that the lower part
had been carried away, broken.

"Now, who would do this but Zadok, who saw in it, he has said, a
receptacle for some varnish which he had; and if Zadok, how had he
carried it, if not in some pocket of his greatcoat. But glass edges make
quick work with pockets; and if this piece of bottle had gone from The
Whispering Pines to Tibbitt's Hall, and from there to the Hill, there
should be some token of its work in Zadok's overcoat pocket.

"This led me to look for those tokens; and as I had by this time
insinuated my way into his confidence by a free and cheerful manner which
gave him a rest from his gloomy thoughts, I soon had a chance to see for
myself the condition of those pockets. The result was quite satisfactory.
In one of them I found a frayed lining, easily explainable on the theory
I had advanced. That pocket can be seen by you.

"But Mr. Fox, I wanted some real proof. I wasn't willing to embarrass
another man, or to risk my own reputation on a hazard so blind as
this, without something really definite. A confession was what I
wanted, or such a breakdown of the man as would warrant police action.
How could I get this?

"I am a pupil of Mr. Gryce, and I remembered some of his methods.

"This man, guilty though he might be, loved this family, and was
broken-hearted over the trouble in which he saw it plunged. Excused
to-day from attendance at court, he was in constant telephonic
communication with some friend of his, who kept him posted as to the
conduct of the trial and the probabilities of a favourable verdict.

"If the case had gone against Arthur, we should have heard from his
coachman--that I verily believe, but when we all saw that he was likely
to be acquitted, I realised that some other course must be taken to shake
Zadok from his new won complacency, and I chose the most obvious one.

"Just when everything looked most favourable to their restored peace and
happiness, I shocked Miss Carmel and, through her, this Zadok, into the
belief that the whole agony was to be gone over again, in the rearrest
and consequent trial of the man she st