--and therefore ought to be above suspicion."

Mitchington suddenly started as if an idea had occurred to him.

"I say, you know!" he exclaimed. "We've only Bryce's word for it that
Harker is an ex-detective. I never heard that he was--if he is, he's
kept it strangely quiet. You'd have thought that he'd have let us know,
here, of his previous calling--I never heard of a policeman of any
rank who didn't like to have a bit of talk with his own sort about
professional matters."

"Nor me," assented Jettison. "And as you say, we've only Bryce's
word. And, the more I think of it, the more I'm convinced there's
somebody--some man of whom you don't seem to have the least idea--who's
in this. And it may be that Bryce is in with him. However--here's one
thing I'm going to do at once. Bryce gave us that information about the
fifty pounds. Now I'm going to tell Bryce straight out that I've gone
into that matter in my own fashion--a fashion he evidently never thought
of--and ask him to explain why he drew a similar amount in gold. Come on
round to his rooms."

But Bryce was not to be found at his rooms--had not been back to his
rooms, said his landlady, since he had ridden away early in the morning:
all she knew was that he had ordered his dinner to be ready at his usual
time that evening. With that the two men had to be content, and they
went back to the police-station still discussing the situation. And they
were still discussing it an hour later when a telegram was handed to
Mitchington, who tore it open, glanced over its contents and passed it
to his companion who read it aloud.

"Meet me with Jettison Wrychester Station on arrival of five-twenty
express from London mystery cleared up guilty men known--Ransford."

Jettison handed the telegram back.

"A man of his word!" he said. "He mentioned two days--he's done it in
one! And now, my lad--do you notice?--he says men, not man! It's as I
said--there's been more than one of 'em in this affair. Now then--who
are they?"

CHAPTER XXI. THE SAXONSTEADE ARMS

Bryce had ridden away on his bicycle from Wrychester that morning intent
on a new piece of diplomacy. He had sat up thinking for some time after
the two police officials had left him at midnight, and it had occurred
to him that there was a man from whom information could be had of whose
services he had as yet made no use but who must be somewhere in the
neighbourhood--the man Glassdale. Glassdale had been in Wrych