mplicated and obscure, and more and more he was falling under the
spell of Lala's dark eyes.

But always it was his professional pride which came to the rescue.
Murder had been done, whether justifiably or otherwise, and to him had
been entrusted the discovery of the murderer. It seemed that failure
was to be his lot, for if Lala knew anything she was a most consummate
actress, and if she did not, his last hope of information was gone.

He would have liked nothing better than to be rid of the affair,
provided he could throw up the case with a clear conscience. But when
presently he parted from the attractive Eurasian, and watched her slim
figure as, turning, she waved her hand and disappeared round a corner,
he knew that rest was not for him.

He had discovered the emporium of a Shadwell live-stock dealer with whom
Ah Fu had a standing order for newly fledged birds of all descriptions.
Purchases apparently were always made after dusk, and Ah Fu with his
birdcage was due that evening.

A scheme having suggested itself to Durham, he now proceeded to put it
into execution, so that when dusk came, and Ah Fu, carrying an empty
birdcage, set out from the house of Huang Chow, a very dirty-looking
loafer passed the corner of the street at about the time that the
Chinaman came slinking out.

Durham had mentally calculated that Ah Fu would be gone about half an
hour upon his mysterious errand, but the Chinaman travelled faster than
he had calculated.

Just as he was about to climb up once more on to the sloping roof,
he heard the pattering footsteps returning to the courtyard, although
rather less than twenty minutes had elapsed since the man had set out.

Durham darted round the corner and waited until he heard the door
closed; then, returning, he scrambled up on to the roof, creeping
forward until he was lying looking down through the skylight into the
darkened room below.

For ten minutes or more he waited, until he began to feel cramped and
uncomfortable. Then that happened which he had hoped and anticipated
would happen. The place beneath became illuminated, not fully, by means
of the hanging lamps, but dimly so that distorted shadows were cast
about the floor. Someone had entered carrying a lantern.

Durham's view-point limited his area of vision, but presently, as the
light came nearer and nearer, he discerned Ah Fu, carrying a lantern
in one hand and a birdcage in the other. He could hear nothing, for the
trap