down in a hurry. Rogers was
standing out there in the hall, looking like he'd seen a ghost. He
kind of gasped and pointed to this room, and I looked in and saw Mr.
Vantine laying there--"

His voice choked at the words, but he managed to go on, after a
moment.

"Then I telephoned for Mr. Lester," he added, "and that's all I
know."

"Very well," said Grady. "That's all for the present. Send Rogers
in."

Rogers's face, as he entered the room, gave me a kind of shock, for
it was that of a man on the verge of hysteria. He was a man of about
fifty, with iron-grey hair, and a smooth-shaven face, ordinarily
ruddy with health. But now his face was livid, his cheeks lined and
shrunken, his eyes blood-shot and staring. He reeled rather than
walked into the room, one hand clutching at his throat, as though he
were choking.

"Get him a chair," said Grady, and Simmonds brought one forward and
remained standing beside it. "Now, my man," Grady continued, "you'll
have to brace up. What's the matter with you, anyhow? Didn't you ever
see a dead man before?"

"It ain't that," gasped Rogers. "It ain't that--though I never saw a
murdered man before."

"What?" demanded Grady, sharply. "Didn't you see that fellow this
afternoon?"

"That was different," Rogers moaned. "I didn't know him. Besides, I
thought he'd killed himself. We all thought so."

"And you don't think Vantine did?"

"I know he didn't," and Rogers's voice rose to a shrill scream. "It
was that woman done it! Damn her! She done it! I knowed she was up to
some crooked work when I let her in!"

CHAPTER VI

THE WOMAN IN THE CASE

It was coming now; the secret, however sordid, however ugly, was to
be unveiled. I saw Grady's face set in hard lines; I could hear the
stir of interest with which the others leaned forward....

Grady took a flask from his pocket and opened it.

"Take a drink of this," he said, and placed it in Rogers's hand.

I could hear the mouth of the flask clattering against his teeth, as
he put it eagerly to his mouth and took three or four long swallows.

"Thank you, sir," he said, more steadily, and handed the flask back
to its owner. A little colour crept into his face; but I fancied
there was a new look in his eyes--for, as the horror faded, fear took
its place.

Grady screwed the cap on the flask with great deliberation, and
returned it to his pocket. And all the time Rogers was watching him
furtively, wiping his mouth mechani