Sneck?" Rawlins cried.

Chris nodded gravely. Rawlins looked like a man who was groping about in
a sudden dazzle of blinding light.

"I begin to understand," he muttered. "The scoundrel!"

"After that I will resume," Chris said. "You must understand that Mr.
Steel was a stranger to us. We hit upon the idea of interviewing him
anonymously, so to speak, and we were going to give him a gun-metal
cigar-case mounted in diamonds. A friend of mine purchased that
cigar-case at Lockhart's. Mind you, Reginald Henson knew all about this.
The same day Henson's tool, Van Sneck, purchased a similar case from
Walen's--a case really procured for your approval--and later on in the
day the case passed from Van Sneck to Henson, who dexterously changed
the cases."

"Complex," Rawlins muttered. "But I begin to see what is coming."

"The cases were changed, and the one from Walen's in due course became
Mr. Steel's. Now note where Henson's diabolical cunning comes in. The
same night Van Sneck is found half murdered in Mr. Steel's house, and in
his pocket is the receipt for the very cigar-case that Mr. Steel claimed
as his own property."

"Very awkward for Steel," Rawlins said, thoughtfully.

"Of course it was. And why was it done? So that we should be forced to
come forward and exonerate Mr. Steel from blame. We should have had to
tell the whole story, and then Henson would have learnt what steps we
were taking to get rid of him."

Rawlins was quiet for some time. Admiration for the scheme was uppermost
in his mind, but there was another thought that caused him to glance
curiously at Chris.

"And that is all you know?" he asked.

"Not quite," Chris replied. "I know that on the day of the attempted
murder Van Sneck quarrelled with Reginald Henson, who he said had treated
him badly. Van Sneck had in some way found out that Reginald Henson meant
mischief to Mr. Steel. Also he couldn't get the money he wanted. Probably
he had purchased that cigar-case at Walen's, and Henson could not repay
him for the purchase of it. Then he went off and wrote to Mr. Steel,
asking the latter to see him, as he had threatened Henson he would do."

"Ah!" Rawlins exclaimed, suddenly. "Are you sure of this?"

"Certain. I heard it from a man who was with Van Sneck at the time, a man
called Merritt."

"James Merritt. Really, you have been in choice company, Miss Lee. Your
knowledge of the criminal classes is getting extensive and peculiar."

"Merritt to