rds."

"And that is all you have to tell me?" Field asked.

"I don't think there is any more. It is rather strange that this thing
should crop up again like this, so soon after I have been to see Mr.
Sartoris, who reminded me so strangely of Carl Grey. Only of course, Mr.
Sartoris is much older."

"I fancy there is not so much difference between their ages," Field said
grimly. "You see, a clever disguise goes a long way. And you say that
you never saw Mr. Grey after that supposed accident. A thing like that
changes people dreadfully."

The girl looked up with a startled expression in her eyes.

"You don't mean to say," she faltered. "You don't mean to suggest
that----"

"That Mr. Grey and Mr. Sartoris are one and the same person," Field said
quietly. "My dear young lady, that is actually the fact. Mr. Sartoris
knew or thought that you could give him certain information. It was
necessary to see you. The name of Sartoris would convey nothing to you,
and in that interview the man was right. But you might have recognised
him, and so he disguised himself. I saw the disguise assumed; I saw you
come into the room amongst the flowers. And long before you had finished
what you had to say I began to see the motive for what looked like a
purposeless and cruel crime. But you were certainly talking to Carl Grey
last night."

The girl shuddered violently and covered her face with her hands. The
whole thing had come back to her now; she blushed to the roots of her
hair as she realised that she had kissed the man that she only thought
of with horror and detestation.

"If I had known, no power on earth would have induced me to enter that
house," she said. "That man seems to be as cruel and cunning as ever.
But why should he have had a hand in the stealing of the body of Sir
Charles Darryll?"

"We will come to that presently," Field said drily. "Sartoris wanted
certain information from you, the address of a lawyer or something of
that kind. You were not quite sure last night whether or not you could
find the information. Did you?"

"Yes," Violet Decie said. "I found it in an old memorandum book of
mine."

"And you were going to post the address to Mr. Sartoris?"

"I am afraid the mischief is done," the girl said. "It was posted early
this morning."

CHAPTER XXVIII

Hot words rose to Field's lips, but he managed to swallow them just in
time. He could have wished that the girl had not been quite so
businesslike