nd parcels into the chest as he
spoke, and we all looked at each other as men might look who, taking a
way unknown to them, come up against a blank wall. But Chisholm, who was
a sharp fellow, with a good headpiece on him, suddenly spoke.

"There's the fact that the murdered man sent that letter from Peebles,"
said he, "and that he himself appears to have travelled from Peebles but
yesterday. We might be hearing something of him at Peebles, and from what
we might hear, there or elsewhere, we might get some connection between
the two of them."

"You're right in all that, sergeant," said Mr. Lindsey, "and it's to
Peebles some of you'll have to go. For the thing's plain--that man has
been murdered by somebody, and the first way to get at the somebody is to
find out who the murdered man is, and why he came into these parts. As
for him," he continued, pointing significantly to the bed, "his
secret--whatever it is--has gone with him. And our question now is, Can
we get at it in any other way?"

We had more talk downstairs, and it was settled that Chisholm and I
should go on to Peebles by the first train that morning, find out what
we could there, and work back to the Cornhill station, where, according
to the half-ticket which had been found on him, the murdered man
appeared to have come on the evening of his death. Meanwhile, Murray
would have the scene of the murder thoroughly and strictly searched--the
daylight might reveal things which we had not been able to discover by
the light of the lamps.

"And there's another thing you can do," suggested Lindsey. "That scrap of
a bill-head with a name and address in Dundee on it, that you found on
him, you might wire there and see if anything is known of the man. Any
bit of information you can get in that way--"

"You're forgetting, Mr. Lindsey, that we don't know any name by which we
can call the man," objected Chisholm. "We'll have to find a name for him
before we can wire to Dundee or anywhere else. But if we can trace a name
to him in Peebles--"

"Aye, that'll be the way of it," said Murray. "Let's be getting all the
information we can during the day, and I'll settle with the coroner's
officer for the inquest at yon inn where you've taken him--it can't be
held before tomorrow morning. Mr. Lindsey," he went on, "what are you
going to do as regards this man that's lying dead upstairs? Mrs.
Moneylaws says the doctor had been twice with him, and'll be able to give
a certificat