udy, or garden-room as he insisted on calling it, Starmidge left the
old man with Mr. Pellworthy and Betty and made an excuse to go out of
the room after the housemaid, who had just brought in the tea for which
Polke had asked. He caught her at the foot of the staircase, and treated
her to one of his most ingratiating smiles.

"I say!" he said, "Mr. Polke's just been telling me about what you and
the cook told him about Mrs. Carswell--you know. Now, I say--you needn't
say anything--except to cook--but I just want to take a look round Mrs.
Carswell's room. Which is it?"

The cook, who kept the kitchen door open so as not to lose anything of
these delightful proceedings, came forward. Both accompanied Starmidge
upstairs to show him the room he wanted. And Starmidge thanked them
profusely and in his best manner--after which he turned them politely
out and locked the door.

Meanwhile Polke went to the police-station and rang up the
Ecclesborough police on the telephone. He gave them a full, accurate,
and precise description of Mrs. Carswell, and a detailed account of her
doings that morning, and begged them to make inquiry at the three great
stations in their town. The man with whom he held conversation calmly
remarked that as each station at Ecclesborough dealt with a few
thousands of separate individuals every day, it was not very likely that
booking-clerks or platform officials would remember any particular
persons, and Polke sorrowfully agreed with him. Nevertheless, he begged
him to do his best--the far-off partner in this interchange of remarks
answered that they would do a lot better if Mr. Polke would tell them
something rather more definite. Polke gave it up at that, and went off
into the Market-Place again, to return to the bank. But before he
reached the bank he ran across Lord Ellersdeane, who, hanging about the
town to hear some result of the search, had been lunching at the
Scarnham Club, and now came out of its door.

"Any news so far?" asked the Earl.

Polke glanced round to see that nobody was within hearing. He and Lord
Ellersdeane stepped within the doorway of the club-house. Polke narrated
the story of the various happenings since the granting of the
search-warrant, and the Earl's face grew graver and graver.

"Mr. Polke," he said at last, "I do not like what I am hearing about all
this. It's a most suspicious thing that the housekeeper should disappear
immediately after Miss Fosdyke's first call t