million I'm going to discover who Mr. Jack
o' Judgment is when he's at home."

He dismissed Crewe and gave fresh instructions to his driver, and ten
minutes later he was stepping out of his limousine at the entrance to
Scotland Yard.

Stafford King was not in, or at any rate was not available. Greatly
daring, the colonel sent his card to the First Commissioner. Sir Stanley
Belcom read the name and raised his eyebrows.

"Show him in," he said, and for the second time the colonel was ushered
into the presence of the chief.

"Well, colonel," said Sir Stanley, "this is rather a dreadful
business."

"Terrible, terrible!" said the colonel, shaking his head. "Solomon White
was one of my best friends. I've been searching for him for weeks."

"So I've heard," said Sir Stanley dryly. "Have you any theory?"

"None whatever."

"What about this man called Raoul? Is he unknown to you?" asked Sir
Stanley.

"That's what I've come to see you about, sir," said the colonel in a
confidential tone. "You remember the last time I was here, you suggested
that possibly the murderer of poor Gregory might be a Frenchman. _You_
remember how you told me that these French assassins have a trick of
leaving some fantastic card or sign of their handiwork?"

Sir Stanley nodded.

"Well, here you have the same thing repeated," said the colonel
triumphantly, "and the identical card. Do you think, sir, that the
murderer of my poor friend Gregory and my poor friend White was the same
man?"

"In fact, Raoul?" asked Sir Stanley.

The colonel nodded, and for a few moments Sir Stanley communed with his
well-kept finger-nails.

"I don't think it will do any harm if I tell you that that is my theory
also, Colonel Boundary," he said, "and, giving confidence for
confidence, would you have any objection to telling me whether Raoul is
one of your--er--business associates?"

There was just the slightest shade of irony in the last two words, but
the colonel preferred to ignore it.

"I'm very glad you asked me that question, sir," he said with a sigh, so
palpably a sigh of relief that the recording angel might be excused if
he were deceived. "I have never seen Raoul before. In fact, my knowledge
of Frenchmen is a very small one. I do very little business in France,
and I certainly do no business at all with men of that class."

"What class?" asked the other quickly.

The colonel shrugged his big shoulders.

"I am only going on what the newspape