ly was--murdered?"

"I really don't doubt it," replied Gatton, who, having filled his
pipe, now lighted it. "I believe he was the first victim."

"The _first_ victim?"

"Mr. Addison, I agree with the late Sir Burnham's solicitor, that the
spider at the heart of this web is Dr. Damar Greefe. The shock of his
son's premature death led to a collapse from which Sir Burnham never
recovered, and Friar's Park entered upon the final phase during which
it was occupied by Lady Burnham who seems to have been wholly under
the influence of this Eurasian doctor."

"But, my dear Gatton!" I cried--"where _is_ Lady Burnham?"

"In my opinion, dead!" he answered solemnly. "Oh, it sounds
preposterous, but in the case of this lonely woman who had apparently
no living relatives and who was estranged from Sir Marcus and the
other members of her husband's family, it was no very difficult
matter to hush up the fact of her death."

"But, Gatton, you don't mean that she, too, met with foul play?"

"Most certainly I don't! It is as clear as day that the whole object
of this elaborate secrecy was to _hide_ the fact of her death! She was
infinitely more useful alive than dead, Mr. Addison; and they hoped to
keep up the solemn farce until--"

"Yes?"

"Until Sir Eric was hanged for the murder of his cousin!"

"Gatton! What do you mean?"

"He is the last of the Coverlys!" answered Gatton simply. "There would
be no further danger of any one paying off the mortgage."

"Danger?"

"Exactly. There is some secret at Friar's Park--or at the Bell
House--which necessitates the property remaining in the possession of
Dr. Damar Greefe--as it has virtually remained since Sir Burnham's
death! So much is clear, and although Eric Coverly has persisted in
his obstinate silence, one of my assistants who has been at work on
the late Sir Marcus's papers made a discovery yesterday, which
together with what I had learned from Mr. Hardacre and your code
message, brought me down to Crossleys post haste."

"What was this discovery?"

"An invitation from Dr. Damar Greefe, dated only a short time after
the death of Sir Burnham, to Sir Marcus, asking him to visit Friar's
Park! The doctor explained that the state of Lady Coverly's health
made it impossible for her to entertain, but he assured Sir Marcus
that she was anxious to see him and to heal any breach which might
exist between them. Most significant of all, the Eurasian proposed
that Sir Marcus should pu