t off
as they could, and having wrapped it round the coffin again they
resumed their journey to the mortuary, where they found Hunter waiting
for them, engaged in earnest conversation with the keeper. The
electric light was switched on, and as Crass and Sawkins came in they
saw that the marble slab was empty.

The corpse was gone.

'Snatchum came this afternoon with a hand-truck and a corfin,'
explained the keeper. 'I was out at the time, and the missis thought
it was all right so she let him have the key.'

Hunter and Crass looked blankly at each other.

'Well, this takes the biskit!' said the latter as soon as he could
speak.

'I thought you said you had settled everything all right with the old
woman?' said Hunter.

'So I did,' replied Crass. 'I seen 'er on Friday, and I told 'er to
leave it all to me to attend to, and she said she would. I told 'er
that Philpot said to me that if ever anything 'appened to 'im I was to
take charge of everything for 'er, because I was 'is best friend. And
I told 'er we'd do it as cheap as possible.'

'Well, it seems to me as you've bungled it somehow,' said Nimrod,
gloomily. 'I ought to have gone and seen 'er myself, I was afraid
you'd make a mess of it,' he added in a wailing tone. 'It's always the
same; everything that I don't attend to myself goes wrong.'

An uncomfortable silence fell. Crass thought that the principal piece
of bungling in this affair was Hunter's failure to secure possession of
the Coroner's certificate after the inquest, but he was afraid to say
so.

Outside, the rain was still falling and drove in through the partly
open door, causing the atmosphere of the mortuary to be even more than
usually cold and damp. The empty coffin had been reared against one of
the walls and the marble slab was still stained with blood, for the
keeper had not had time to clean it since the body had been removed.

'I can see 'ow it's been worked,' said Crass at last. 'There's one of
the members of the club who works for Snatchum, and 'e's took it on
'isself to give the order for the funeral; but 'e's got no right to do
it.'

'Right or no right, 'e's done it,' replied Misery, 'so you'd better
take the box back to the shop.'

Crass and Sawkins accordingly returned to the workshop, where they were
presently joined by Nimrod.

'I've been thinking this business over as I came along,' he said, 'and
I don't see being beat like this by Snatchum; so you two can just