, Chetney refused to give it him. No one knew
that Arthur had gone to seek out his brother. They were alone. It is
possible, then, that in a passion of disappointment, and crazed with
the disgrace which he saw before him, young Arthur made himself the heir
beyond further question. The death of his brother would have availed
nothing if the woman remained alive. It is then possible that he crossed
the hall, and with the same weapon which made him Lord Edam's heir
destroyed the solitary witness to the murder. The only other person
who could have seen it was sleeping in a drunken stupor, to which fact
undoubtedly he owed his life. And yet," concluded the Naval Attache,
leaning forward and marking each word with his finger, "Lord Arthur
blundered fatally. In his haste he left the door of the house open, so
giving access to the first passer-by, and he forgot that when he entered
it he had handed his card to the servant. That piece of paper may yet
send him to the gallows. In the mean time he has disappeared completely,
and somewhere, in one of the millions of streets of this great capital,
in a locked and empty house, lies the body of his brother, and of the
woman his brother loved, undiscovered, unburied, and with their murder
unavenged."

In the discussion which followed the conclusion of the story of the
Naval Attache the gentleman with the pearl took no part. Instead, he
arose, and, beckoning a servant to a far corner of the room, whispered
earnestly to him until a sudden movement on the part of Sir Andrew
caused him to return hurriedly to the table.

"There are several points in Mr. Sears's story I want explained," he
cried. "Be seated, Sir Andrew," he begged. "Let us have the opinion of
an expert. I do not care what the police think, I want to know what you
think."

But Sir Henry rose reluctantly from his chair.

"I should like nothing better than to discuss this," he said. "But it
is most important that I proceed to the House. I should have been there
some time ago." He turned toward the servant and directed him to call a
hansom.

The gentleman with the pearl stud looked appealingly at the Naval
Attache. "There are surely many details that you have not told us," he
urged. "Some you have forgotten."

The Baronet interrupted quickly.

"I trust not," he said, "for I could not possibly stop to hear them."

"The story is finished," declared the Naval Attache; "until Lord Arthur
is arrested or the bodies are found