Gibson returned, with a
scared look on his face. Li Min, he reported, had disappeared. No one
had seen him since the night before. His room had apparently been
occupied, but the Chinaman was nowhere to be found.

"The police must be notified at once," I urged.

"I will attend to it," said the Major. "First we must have some coffee."

He closed the door of the room carefully, after we left it, and, taking
the key from the lock--it had evidently not been used by Mr. Ashton the
night before--locked the door from the outside and ordered Gibson to
remain in the hallway without and allow no one to approach.

We finished dressing and then had a hurried cup of coffee and some
muffins in the breakfast-room. It was by now nearly eight o'clock, and I
suggested to Major Temple that if he wished, I would drive into Exeter
with one of his men, notify the police and at the same time get my
luggage.

I assured him that I had no desire to inflict myself upon him further as
a guest, but that the murder of Ashton and the necessity of my appearing
as a witness at the forthcoming inquest made it imperative that I should
remain upon the scene until the police were satisfied to have me depart.
At my mention of the police the Major showed great uneasiness, as
before.

"You need not say anything about the--the emerald," he said, slowly; "it
would only create unnecessary talk and trouble."

"I'm afraid I must," I replied. "It is evidently the sole motive for the
murder--it has disappeared, and unless the police are apprised of its
part in the case, I fail to see how they can intelligently proceed in
their attempts to unravel the mystery."

He shook his head slowly. "What a pity!" he remarked. "What a pity! If
the stone is ever found now, the authorities will hold it as the
property of the dead man or his relations, if indeed he has any. And it
would have been the crowning glory of my collection." It was evident
that Major Temple was far more concerned over the loss of the emerald
than over the death of Robert Ashton. "But they will never find
it--never!" he concluded with a cunning smile, and an assurance that
startled me. I wondered for a moment whether Major Temple knew more
about the mysterious death of Robert Ashton than appeared upon the
surface, but, recollecting his excited search of the dead man's
belongings, dismissed the idea as absurd. It recurred, however, from
time to time during my short drive to Exeter, and the thought c