ur."

"No hurry. If I am in by half past one it will do. I am lunching with
Frazer at the Criterion at that time."

The two-seater stopped, the big man entered, and the vehicle moved away.

As soon as it was out of sight, Willis emerged from his hiding-place,
and hurrying to the station, caught the 1.17 train to Hull. Twenty
minutes later he passed through the swing doors of the Criterion.

The hotel, as is well known, is one of the most fashionable in Hull, and
at the luncheon hour the restaurant was well filled. Glancing casually
round, Willis could see his new acquaintance seated at a table in the
window, in close conversation with a florid, red-haired individual of
the successful business man type.

All the tables in the immediate vicinity were occupied, and Willis could
not get close by in the hope of overhearing some of the conversation,
as he had intended. He therefore watched the others from a distance, and
when they had moved to the lounge he followed them.

He heard them order coffee and liqueurs, and then a sudden idea came
into his head. Rising, he followed the waiter through the service door.

"I want a small job done," he said, while a ten-shilling note changed
hands. "I am from Scotland Yard, and I want the finger-prints of the men
who have just ordered coffee. Polish the outsides of the liqueur glasses
thoroughly, and only lift them by the stems. Then when the men have gone
let me have the glasses."

He returned to the lounge, and presently had the satisfaction of seeing
Archer lift his glass by the bowl between the finger and thumb of his
right hand, to empty his liqueur into his coffee. Hall an hour later he
was back in his hotel with the carefully packed glass.

A very few minutes sufficed for the test. The impressions showed up
well, and this time the inspector gave a sigh of relief as he compared
them with those of the taxi speaking-tube. They were the same. His quest
was finished. Archer was the murderer of Francis Coburn.

For a minute or two, in his satisfaction, the inspector believed his
work was done. He had only to arrest Archer, take official prints of
his fingers, and he had all the necessary proof for a conviction. But a
moment's consideration showed him that his labors were very far indeed
from being over. What he had accomplished was only a part of the task he
had set himself. It was a good deal more likely that the other members
of the syndicate were confederates in the murder