harp eyes detected the secret spy upon her movements;
and the dry, sardonic tone of her remark pained me too, recalling, as
it did, the frigid self-possession that had so repelled me in the early
days of our acquaintance. And yet I could not but admire the cool
unconcern with which she faced her horrible peril.

"Tell me a little more about this conference," she said, as we walked
down Fetter Lane. "Your note was rather more concise than lucid; but I
suppose you wrote it in a hurry."

"Yes, I did. And I can't give you any details now. All I know is that
Doctor Norbury has had a letter from a friend of his in Berlin, an
Egyptologist, as I understand, named Lederbogen, who refers to an
English acquaintance of his and Norbury's whom he saw in Vienna about a
year ago. He cannot remember the Englishman's name, but from some of
the circumstances Norbury seems to think that he is referring to your
Uncle John. Of course, if this should turn out to be really the case,
it would set everything straight; so Thorndyke was anxious that you and
your father should meet Norbury and talk it over."

"I see," said Ruth. Her tone was thoughtful but by no means
enthusiastic.

"You don't seem to attach much importance to the matter," I remarked.

"No. It doesn't seem to fit the circumstances. What is the use of
suggesting that poor Uncle John is alive--and behaving like an
imbecile, which he certainly was not--when his dead body has actually
been found?"

"But," I suggested lamely, "there may be some mistake. It may not be
his body after all."

"And the ring?" she asked, with a bitter smile.

"That may be just a coincidence. It was a copy of a well-known form of
antique ring. Other people may have had copies made as well as your
uncle. Besides," I added with more conviction, "we haven't seen the
ring. It may not be his at all."

She shook her head. "My dear Paul," she said quietly, "it is useless
to delude ourselves. Every known fact points to the certainty that it
is his body. John Bellingham is dead: there can be no doubt of that.
And to every one except his unknown murderer and one or two of my own
loyal friends, it must seem that his death lies at my door. I realized
from the beginning that the suspicion lay between George Hurst and me;
and the finding of the ring fixes it definitely on me. I am only
surprised that the police have made no move yet."

The quiet conviction of her tone left me for a while speec