p the gold in leather bags,
each containing a thousand sovereigns, and to drop them along the line
at some spot previously agreed upon. I have no doubt that the murderer
and his accomplices traveled many times up and down the line before the
details were finally settled. Any way, there was no risk here. The
broken packing cases were pitched out also, probably in some thick wood.
Or they might have been weighted and cast into a stream. Are you
interested?"

The Marquis gurgled. He had some difficulty in speaking.

"A little dangerous," he said. "Our ingenious friend could not possibly
screw himself down in the coffin after returning to his compartment. And
have you perceived the danger of discovery at Lydmouth?"

"Precisely," Merrick said drily. "It is refreshing to meet with so
luminous a mind as yours. There were many dangers, many risks to take.
The train might have been stopped, lots of things might have happened.
It would be far better for the man to leave the express. And he did so!"

"The express at top speed! Impossible!"

"To the ordinary individual, yes. But then, you see, this was not an
ordinary individual. He was--let us suppose--an acrobat, a man of great
nerve and courage, accustomed to trapeze work and the use of the diving
net."

"But Colonel, pardon me, where does the net come in?"

"The net came in at a place near Little Warlingham, on the Norfolk
coast. There are miles of net up there, trap and flight nets close by
the side of the line. These nets are wide and strong; they run many
furlongs without supports, so that an acrobat could easily turn a
somersault on to one of these at a given spot without the slightest
risk. He could study out the precise spot carefully beforehand--there
are lightships on the sands to act as guides. I have been down to the
spot and studied it all out for myself. The thing is quite easy for the
class of man I mean. I am not taking any great credit to myself, because
I happened to see the body of the man who essayed that experiment. I
recognized him for----"

"You recognized him! You knew who he was?"

"Certainly. He was Luigi Bianca, who used to perform in London years
ago, with his brother Joseph, on the high trapeze. Then one of them got
into trouble and subsequently embarked, as the papers say, on a career
of crime. And when I saw the body of Luigi I knew at once that he had
had a hand in the murder of Mr. Skidmore. When the right spot was
reached the fellow to