" he said firmly, wondering at himself for his insistence. "Don't!
There's no need for that--yet. You mustn't go. Mr. Tertius----"

"Better not just yet, miss," broke in the inspector. "The doctor is
still here. Afterwards, perhaps. If you would wait here while these
gentlemen go with me."

Peggie hesitated a moment; then she turned away and sat down.

"Very well," she said.

The inspector silently motioned the two men to follow him; with his hand
on the door Selwood turned again to Peggie.

"You will stay here?" he said. "You won't follow us?"

"I shall stay here," she answered. "Stop a minute--there's one thing
that should be thought of. My cousin Barthorpe----"

"Mr. Barthorpe Herapath has been sent for, miss--he'll be here
presently," replied the inspector. "The caretaker's telephoned to him.
Now gentlemen."

He led the way along a corridor to a room with which Selwood was
familiar enough--an apartment of some size which Jacob Herapath used as
a business office and kept sacred to himself and his secretary. When he
was in it no one ever entered that room except at Herapath's bidding;
now there were strangers in it who had come there unbidden, and Herapath
lay in their midst, silent for ever. They had laid the lifeless body on
a couch, and Selwood and Mr. Tertius bent over it for a moment before
they turned to the other men in the room. The dead face was calm enough;
there was no trace of sudden fear on it, no signs of surprise or anger
or violent passion.

"If you'll look here, gentlemen," said the police-inspector, motioning
them towards the broad hearthrug. "This is how things were--nothing had
been touched when we arrived. He was lying from there to here--he'd
evidently slipped down and sideways out of that chair, and had fallen
across the rug. The revolver was lying a few inches from his right hand.
Here it is."

He pulled open a drawer as he spoke and produced a revolver which he
carefully handled as he showed it to Selwood and Mr. Tertius.

"Have either of you gentlemen ever seen that before?" he asked. "I
mean--do you recognize it as having belonged to--him? You don't? Never
seen it before, either of you? Well, of course he might have kept a
revolver in his private desk or in his safe, and nobody would have
known. We shall have to make an exhaustive search and see if we can find
any cartridges or anything. However, that's what we found--and, as I
said before, one chamber had been discharged. The d