y the Bertillon method. Besides, even if we
had once caught him and duly noted the shape of his nose, his chin,
his ears, his forehead, of what use would that be against a man who
turns up with a fresh face each time, and can mould his features
into what form he likes, to deceive and foil us?"

"Never mind, Sey," my brother-in-law said. "I was told in New York
that Dr. Frank Beddersley, of London, was the best exponent of the
Bertillon system now living in England; and to Beddersley I shall
go. Or, rather, I'll invite him here to lunch to-morrow."

"Who told you of him?" I inquired. "_Not_ Dr. Quackenboss, I hope;
nor yet Mr. Algernon Coleyard?"

Charles paused and reflected. "No, neither of them," he answered,
after a short internal deliberation. "It was that magazine editor
chap we met at Wrengold's."

"_He's_ all right," I said; "or, at least, I think so."

So we wrote a polite invitation to Dr. Beddersley, who pursued
the method professionally, asking him to come and lunch with us
at Mayfair at two next day.

Dr. Beddersley came--a dapper little man, with pent-house eyebrows,
and keen, small eyes, whom I suspected at sight of being Colonel
Clay himself in another of his clever polymorphic embodiments. He
was clear and concise. His manner was scientific. He told us at once
that though the Bertillon method was of little use till the expert
had seen the criminal once, yet if we had consulted him earlier
he might probably have saved us some serious disasters. "A man
so ingenious as this," he said, "would no doubt have studied
Bertillon's principles himself, and would take every possible
means to prevent recognition by them. Therefore, you might almost
disregard the nose, the chin, the moustache, the hair, all of which
are capable of such easy alteration. But there remain some features
which are more likely to persist--height, shape of head, neck,
build, and fingers; the timbre of the voice, the colour of the iris.
Even these, again, may be partially disguised or concealed; the way
the hair is dressed, the amount of padding, a high collar round the
throat, a dark line about the eyelashes, may do more to alter the
appearance of a face than you could readily credit."

"So we know," I answered.

"The voice, again," Dr. Beddersley continued. "The voice itself may
be most fallacious. The man is no doubt a clever mimic. He could,
perhaps, compress or enlarge his larynx. And I judge from what you
tell me that he took