.

The place was artificially lighted by lamps which themselves were
beautiful objects of art, and which swung from the massive beams of
the ceiling. The floor of the warehouse, which was partly of stone, was
covered with thick matting, and spread upon it were rugs and carpets
of Karadagh, Kermanshah, Sultan-abad, and Khorassan, with lesser-known
loomings of almost equal beauty. Skins of rare beasts overlay the
divans. Furniture of ivory, of ebony and lemonwood, preciously inlaid,
gave to the place an air of cunning confusion. There were tall cabinets,
there were caskets and chests of exquisite lacquer and enamel, loot
of an emperor's palace; robes heavy with gold; slippers studded with
jewels; strange carven ivories; glittering weapons; pots, jars, and
bowls, as delicate and as fragile as the petals of a lily.

Last, but not least, sitting cross-legged upon a low couch, was old
Huang Chow, smoking a great curved pipe, and peering half blindly across
the place through large horn-rimmed spectacles. This couch was set
immediately beside a wide ascending staircase, richly carpeted, and
on the other side of the staircase, in a corresponding recess, upon a
gilded trestle carved to represent the four claws of a dragon, rested
perhaps the strangest exhibit of that strange collection--a Chinese
coffin of exquisite workmanship.

The boy retired, and Mr. Hampden found himself alone with Huang Chow. No
word had been exchanged between master and servant, but:

"Good morning, Mr. Hampden," said the Chinaman in a high, thin voice.
"Please be seated. It is from Mr. Isaacs you come?"

IV

PERSONAL REPORT OF DETECTIVE JOHN DURHAM TO CHIEF INSPECTOR KERRY,
OFFICER IN CHARGE OF LIMEHOUSE INQUIRY

Dear Chief Inspector,--Following your instructions I returned and
interviewed the prisoner Poland in his cell. I took the line which
you had suggested, pointing out to him that he had nothing to gain and
everything to lose by keeping silent.

"Answer my questions," I said, "and you can walk straight out.
Otherwise, you'll be up before the magistrate, and on your record alone
it will mean a holiday which you probably don't want."

He was very truculent, but I got him in a good humour at last, and he
admitted that he had been cooperating with the dead man, Cohen, in an
attempt to burgle the house of Huang Chow. His reluctance to go into
details seemed to be due rather to fear of Huang Chow than to fear of
the law, and I present