re you going with Sir
Philip?"

"Oh, yes. I wouldn't go without her," said the baronet, with the
helpless look of senility. "You're going, aren't you, Alethea?"

"Of course, Philip," was the gentle response.

This conversation, slight and desultory as it was, gave sufficient
indication to the detective of the heavy burden Miss Heredith was
bearing. The baronet could talk of nothing else during the remainder of
the dinner, and when the meal was finished he begged his guest to excuse
him as he wished to obtain a good night's rest to fortify him against
the excitement of the coming outing. With an apologetic smile at Colwyn
his sister followed him from the room.

The old butler busied himself at the sideboard as Colwyn remained seated
at the table sipping his wine. His movements were so deliberate as to
convey a suspicion that he was in no hurry to leave the room, and the
glances he shot at Colwyn whenever he moved out of the range of his
vision carried with them the additional suggestion that the detective
was the unconscious cause of his slowness. More than once, after these
backward glances, he opened his lips as though to speak, but did not do
so. It was Colwyn who broke the silence.

"Tufnell!" he said.

"Yes, sir?" The butler deposited a dish on the sideboard and stepped
quickly to the detective's chair.

"I want to ask you a question or two. It was you who found the back door
of the left wing unlocked on the night of the murder, was it not?"

The butler gravely bowed, but did not speak.

"What made you try the door? Did you suspect that it was unlocked?"

"No; it was just chance that caused me to turn the handle. I'm so used
to locking up the house at nights that I did it without thinking. I
certainly never expected to find it unlocked, and the key in the inside
of the door. That was quite a surprise to me. I have often wondered
since who could have unlocked it and left the key in the door."

"You told me last time I was here that this door is usually locked and
the key kept in the housekeeper's apartments. I suppose there is no
doubt about that?"

"Not the least, sir. The key is hanging there now with a lot of others.
Nobody ever thinks of using the door. That is why I was so astonished to
find it open that night."

"If the key was hanging with a number of others it might have been taken
some time before and not be missed?"

"That's just it, sir. It might not have been missed by now if I had not
d