ut whose antecedents Mr.
Minute made an inquiry, or Jasper Cole, the secretary, or--"

He shrugged his shoulders.

It was not necessary to say who was the third suspect.

There came a knock at the door, and the clerk announced Inspector Nash.
That stout and stoical officer gave a noncommittal nod to Mr. Mann and a
smiling recognition to the girl.

"Well, you know how matters stand, Inspector," said Mr. Mann briskly,
"and I thought I'd ask you to come here to-day to straighten a few
things out."

"It is rather irregular, Mr. Mann," said the inspector, "but as they've
no objection at headquarters, I don't mind telling you, within limits,
all that I know; but I don't suppose I can tell you any more than you
have found out for yourself."

"Do you really think Mr. Merrill committed this crime?" asked the girl.

The inspector raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips.

"It looks uncommonly like it, miss," he said. "We have evidence that the
bank has been robbed, and it is almost certainly proved that Merrill had
access to the books and was the only person in the bank who could have
faked the figures and transferred the money from one account to another
without being found out. There are still one or two doubtful points to
be cleared up, but there is the motive, and when you've got the motive
you are three parts on your way to finding the criminal. It isn't a
straightforward case by any means," he confessed, "and the more I go
into it the more puzzled I am. I don't mind telling you this frankly: I
have seen Constable Wiseman, who swears that at the moment the shots
were fired he saw a light flash in the upper window. We have the
statement of Mr. Cole that he was in his room, his employer having
requested that he should make himself scarce when the nephew came, and
he tells us how somebody opened the door quietly and flashed an electric
torch upon him."

"What was Cole doing in the dark?" asked Mann quickly.

"He had a headache and was lying down," said the inspector. "When he saw
the light he jumped up and made for it, and was immediately slugged; the
door closed upon him and was locked. Between his leaving the bed and
reaching the door he heard Mr. Merrill's voice threatening his uncle,
and the shots. Immediately afterward he was rendered insensible."

"A curious story," said Saul Arthur Mann dryly. "A very curious story!"

The girl felt an unaccountable and altogether amazing desire to defend
Jasper against the i