e
footman. May we have him up?"

"With pleasure. I'll ring for him."

Mr. Wetherell rang the bell, and a moment later it was answered by the
man himself.

"Come in, James, and shut the door behind you," his master said.

The man did as he was ordered, but not without looking, as I thought, a
little uncomfortable. The Inspector I could see had noticed this too,
for he had been watching him intently ever since he had appeared in the
room.

"James," said Mr. Wetherell, "the Inspector of Police wishes to ask you
a few questions. Answer him to the best of your ability."

"To begin with," said the Inspector, "I want you to look at this
envelope. Have you seen it before?"

He handed him the envelope of the anonymous letter addressed to Mr.
Wetherell. The man took it and turned it over in his hands.

"Yes, sir," he said, "I have seen it before; I took it in at the front
door."

"From whom?"

"From a little old woman, sir," the man answered.

"A little old woman!" cried the Inspector, evidently surprised. "What
sort of woman?"

"Well, sir, I don't know that I can give you much of a description of
her. She was very small, had a sort of nut-cracker face, a little black
poke bonnet, and walked with a stick."

"Should you know her again if you saw her?"

"Oh yes, sir."

"Did she say anything when she gave you the letter?"

"Only, 'For Mr. Wetherell, young man.' That was all, sir."

"And you didn't ask if there was an answer? That was rather a singular
omission on your part, was it not?"

"She didn't give me time, sir. She just put it into my hand and went
down the steps again."

"That will do. Now, Mr. Wetherell, I think we'd better see about getting
that money from the bank. You need not wait, my man."

The footman thereupon left the room, while both Mr. Wetherell and I
stared at the Inspector in complete astonishment. He laughed.

"You are wondering why I said that," he remarked.

"I must confess it struck me as curious."

"Well, let me tell you I did it with a purpose. Did you notice that
young man's face when he entered the room and when I gave him the
letter? There can be no doubt about it, he is in the secret."

"You mean that he is in Nikola's employ? Then why don't you arrest him?"

"Because I want to be quite certain first. I said that about the money
because, if he is Nikola's agent, he will carry the information to him,
and by so doing keep your daughter in Sydney for at least a day longer