attend to
matters which were pressing there, he would have to ask Miss October
Copley one of the most important questions he had ever asked in the
course of a career devoted mostly to inquisitions. The prospect gave
him a shivery feeling up and down his spine!

He walked briskly up the short-cut through the woods and came out at
the end of the kitchen garden, now associated with a grimmer business
than the growing of vegetables. It was due to his swift pace that he
was in the open, in plain view, before he noticed two figures seated on
the big granite bowlder near the tomato-patch. He would have retreated
to the obscurity of the trees and watched that interview if Miss Ocky
had not spied him and risen instantly from her seat on the rock.

"Come here!" she called. "The very man we want!"

He walked over to them, and Miss Ocky's companion, a tall, handsome,
fair-haired man, stood up to acknowledge the impending introduction.
He looked pale and worn, more haggard even than that morning at the
inquest.

"Mr. Creighton--Mr. Leslie Sherwood," said Miss Ocky quickly. "You
haven't met each other yet, have you?"

"No, I haven't _met_ Mr. Sherwood," acknowledged the detective,
accenting the verb very slightly.

"But you've been on my track!" said Sherwood, smiling rather nervously.
"My valet was shrewd enough to suspect the man who scraped an
acquaintance with him and showed so much interest in discovering my
whereabouts on the night of Simon Varr's murder! He followed his new
acquaintance one afternoon and saw him report to you."

"You appear to be more fortunate than I in the intelligence of your
followers," said Creighton rather glumly. "I'm glad, though, to have
this matter brought into the open." He glanced at Miss Ocky and back
to Sherwood. "May I speak frankly, or shall we adjourn to the house by
our two selves?"

"I have nothing to conceal from Miss Copley," answered Sherwood,
flushing slightly. "As a matter of fact, I've just been making a full
statement to her of my actions that evening and she had just advised me
strongly to consult you when you suddenly appeared."

"Excellent advice. I'll explain my curiosity first, though. During
the course of my investigation I've had to poke up a lot of gossip and
more or less ancient history, and some of it related to you. According
to my information you were once--attentive--to Miss Lucy Copley. You
left, and she married Simon Varr. You returned, and Sim