ed very little
could have been done if they had.

And Field was turning in another direction. He had to trace the young
lady who at one time had been engaged to Carl Sartoris, and he had found
it a more difficult business than he had anticipated. It was a delicate
business, too, calling for tactful manipulation. A somewhat talkative
aunt of the young lady was found at length. She took Field for a lawyer
who was seeking the Honorable Violet for her own advantage.

"Oh, yes. She has been back from India a long time," Lady Parkstone
said. "Violet is a very strange and clever girl. Yes, she has been
engaged more than once. But the engagements are always broken off.
Violet was always in love with herself. But very clever, as I said
before. At one time she bade fair to become quite a famous artist, and
she has had stories in the magazines. Her last fad was the stage and
that has lasted quite a long time. In fact she is on the stage now."

"In London, my lady?" Field asked. "She is not acting under her own
name, of course?"

"No," Lady Parkstone explained. "She is Miss Adela Vane; at present she
is playing at the Comedy Opera House. It is just possible that you know
the name."

Field knew the name very well. He departed presently well satisfied with
the progress that he had made. It was getting quite late by the time he
had found out where Miss Vane lodged, but he had time to go back to
Scotland Yard again. There, a note from the superintendent of the
Wandsworth Police was awaiting him, asking him to go down as soon as
possible. The note was vague but it suggested possibilities.

The Wandsworth authorities had not much to say, but they had one detail.
Last night one of the men who was told to watch No. 100 had seen
something. The windows were all shuttered from top to bottom, each
shutter having a little ventilator in it. Field nodded, for he had
noticed this himself.

"Very well, then," the superintendent went on. "So far as we know the
house is empty. But is it? If so why should a light have been seen last
night, behind the little round ventilator? The light came and went, and
in a great flashing, dazzling kind of way for half an hour, and then
stopped. It was as if a child was playing with the switch of the
electric light."

Field nodded and smiled. He looked exceedingly pleased with himself.

"Guess I understand," he said. "Especially as we are seeking for a
military gentleman. We'll go as far as Audley Place at