duty to-day."

CHAPTER XII

The story had gone abroad by this time. All London knew of the strange
disappearance of the body of Sir Charles Darryll. Of course the wildest
rumours were afloat, the cheaper newspapers had details that had been
evolved from the brilliant imagination of creative reporters; a score of
them had already besieged the manager of the _Royal Palace Hotel_ and
were making his life a burden to him. The thing was bad enough as it
stood; enough damage had been done to the prestige of the hotel without
making matters worse in this fashion.

There was nothing further to say at present except that the news was
true, and that the police had no clue whatsoever for the moment.

"Not that it is the slightest use telling them anything of the kind,"
Field muttered. "Whenever there is a mystery the press always gives us
the credit for the possession of a clue. In that way they very often
succeed in scaring our game away altogether. I don't say that the papers
are useless to us, but they do more harm than good."

All the same, Field was not quite at a loss to know what to do. Beatrice
had given him a full and accurate description of the two adventurers who
had vanished, leaving no trace behind them. They had suggested that all
their belongings were at the _European Hotel_, but a question or two
asked there had proved that such was not the case.

"And yet they have gone and covered up their tracks behind them," Field
said. "Why? Miss Darryll--I should say, Mrs. Richford--is quite sure
that she did not alarm either of them. Then why did they disappear like
this? Perhaps they were spotted by somebody else over another matter.
Perhaps the gentleman who so scared our 'General' in the drawing-room of
this hotel had something to do with the matter. We shan't get much
further on the track of this interesting pair until I have had a talk
with some of the foreign detectives."

"You can, at any rate, look after the missing hotel servants," Mark
suggested.

But that was already being done, as Field proceeded to explain. It was
just possible that they had been the victims of foul play. Most of the
newspaper men had been cleared out by this time, and there being nothing
further to learn, the hotel resumed its normal condition. People came
and went as they usually do in such huge concerns; the mystery was
discussed fitfully, but the many visitors had their own business to
attend to, so that they did not heed th