y the measure of these things, Mr. Narkom, as
a hero or as a scoundrel?" he said. "If he is innocent, why was he
hiding? And if not for a criminal purpose, why did he come to this place
at all?"

"Heavens above, man, don't ask _me_!" returned Narkom irritably. "It's
the most infernal riddle I ever encountered. My head's in a positive
whirl. But look here, old chap. Supposing he did have a hand in the
murder, how on earth could he have coaxed De Louvisan to this house--a
man who had cause to dread him, a man whose life he had threatened?"

"Perhaps he didn't, Mr. Narkom; perhaps somebody did the coaxing for
him. A woman is a clever lure, my friend, and we know that one or two,
perhaps three---- Oh, well, let it go at that."

A faint sound of an automobile horn sounded its blare through the
distance and darkness.

"Lennard is coming back with the local authorities. I'd know the hooting
of that horn among a thousand, Mr. Narkom. And with their coming,
'Monsieur de Lesparre' returns to his native kit bag. This way,
Dollops--look sharp! Pick us up at the old railway arch as soon as you
can, Mr. Narkom. We'll be on the lookout for you. Now then, Dollops, my
lad, step lively!"

"Right you are, gov'ner. So long, Mr. Narkom. We're off--as the eggs
said to the cook when she got a whiff of 'em."

"Good-bye for a little time," said Cleek, reaching out and gripping the
superintendent's hand. "At the arch, remember. It has been child's play
up to this, Mr. Narkom. Now the real work begins. And unless all signs
fail, it promises to be the case of my career."

And so, like this, he stepped off into the mist and darkness, and went
his way--to the beginning of the chase; to the reading of the riddle; to
those things of Love and Mystery, of Faith and Unfaith, of Sorrow and of
Joy, whose trail lay under the roof of Wuthering Grange and which walked
as shadows with Lady Katharine Fordham and Ailsa Lorne.

CHAPTER SEVEN

"COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS BEFORE"

Once the affair had been reported to the local police, news of the
tragedy spread over the neighbourhood with amazing velocity, and by nine
o'clock next morning there wasn't a soul within a radius of five miles
who had not heard of it; by ten the Common and the immediate vicinity of
Gleer Cottage were literally black with morbid-minded sightseers and
reporters.

As yet, however, none but the police and the representatives of the
press had been permitted to cros