if there is such a person, has never set foot in the house."

"Perhaps Maraquito sees her secretly."

"Well," said Drudge pensively, "she certainly went in by a side door,
Mr. Jennings. Do you want me to watch further, sir?"

"Yes. Keep your eye on the Soho house, and should Mrs. Herne reappear,
follow her. Anything else?"

"Yes, sir. Mrs. Herne when walking down the hill dropped a small bag."

"Ah! Have you got it?"

"No. She was too sharp for me. I was picking it up when she missed it
and came to claim it. But before she reached me I had opened it. Only
her handkerchief was inside. I gave it back, and she gave me a
shilling. But the queer thing, sir, is the scent."

"What scent?" asked Jennings, looking keenly at the man.

"Oh, a strange strong scent, fit to knock you down, sir."

"Well, and why shouldn't a lady use scent. It is customary."

"It is, sir. My wife uses scent. But this was a queer smell. And then
a man shouldn't use scent," burst out Drudge.

"Some men are effeminate enough to do so," said Jennings drily. "But I
don't quite understand all this."

"I can tell you what puzzled me at once," said the underling, "after
watching Maraquito's house for some time, I put another fellow on, and
went to the office. I had to go to see the police about some matter,
and I spoke to Inspector Twining of the Rexton district. He had on his
desk a handkerchief and a few articles which had just been taken from a
man who had been arrested for passing false coins."

"Oh!" Jennings looked very interested, "go on."

"This man was in one of the cells, and he is to be brought before the
magistrate this morning. They searched him and took his handkerchief
from him."

"It is not customary to do that?"

"No, Sir. But this man--I don't know his name--had two handkerchiefs.
The searcher thought that was one too many," said Drudge, with the
glimmer of a smile, "and took one."

"Why do you tell me all this?" asked Jennings impatiently.

"Because the handkerchief was scented with the same perfume as the
handkerchief of Mrs. Herne I picked up. The moment I smelt it I
thought of her coming back for the bag. The scent is so strange and
strong that I thought it just as well to mention it to you. You are
interested in Mrs. Herne, sir, so if this man uses the same scent--"

"Quite so. You have acted very wisely. Where was the man arrested?"

"At a place near Rexton. He was trying to get a drink an