ight, but an official from the
stationmaster's office went round with him, and after a brief search
they found the article for which the ticket was a voucher. It was a
small suitcase, locked, and Willis brought it away with him, intending
to open it at his leisure. His work at the station being by this time
complete, he returned to the Yard, carrying the suitcase. There, though
it was growing late, he forced the lock, and sat down to examine the
contents. But from them he received no help. The bag contained just the
articles which a man in middle-class circumstances would naturally carry
on a week or a fortnight's trip--a suit of clothes, clean linen,
toilet appliances, and such like. Nowhere could Willis find anything of
interest.

Telephone messages, meanwhile, had come in from the two plain clothes
men. Jones reported that he had interviewed all the constables who had
been on point duty at the places in question, but without result. Nor
could any of the staffs of the neighboring hotels or restaurants assist
him.

The call from the Peveril conveyed slightly more information. The
manageress, so Matthews said, had been most courteous and had sent for
several members of her staff in the hope that some of them might be
able to answer his questions. But the sum total of the knowledge he
had gained was not great. In the first place, it was evident that the
deceased was Mr. Coburn himself. It appeared that he was accompanied by
a Miss Coburn, whom the manageress believed to be his daughter. He had
been heard addressing her as Madeleine. The two had arrived in time for
dinner five days previously, registering "F. Coburn and Miss Coburn,"
and had left about eleven on the morning of the murder. On each of the
four days of their stay they had been out a good deal, but they had left
and returned at different hours, and, therefore, appeared not to have
spent their time together. They seemed, however, on very affectionate
terms. No address had been left to which letters might be forwarded,
and it was not known where the two visitors had intended to go when
they left. Neither the manageress nor any of the staff had seen anyone
resembling the tall man.

Inspector Willis was considerably disappointed by the news. He had hoped
that Mr. Coburn's fellow-guest would have been the murderer, and that
he would have left some trace from which his identity could have been
ascertained. However, the daughter's information would no doubt be
v