n that silent little knot of spectators, made his
way over to the side of Maud Duggan, whose face was as pale as a dead
face, and in whose eyes lurked the suspicion of a great fear, and laid
his hand upon her arm.

They conversed for a moment or two in low voices utterly oblivious of
those others who were searching their faces with curious eyes, while in
the background Ross Duggan fidgeted with his watch-chain and sent his
handsome eyes searching each figure in that still room, as though in an
endeavour to find a clue therein which would lift the pall of hateful
suspicion from his own shoulders.

Cleek surveyed them critically. It was an abominably personal sort of
case, to say the least of it. And not much to his liking. But the
element of mystery in the whole affair gripped his interest in spite of
these other drawbacks.

Of course there was no truth in the cock-and-bull story of the Peasant
Girl--that went without saying. But that it had been used as a "blind"
to cover the real perpetrators of the crime was evident to his mind. And
why _two_ of them? For in each case death would have been caused
instantaneously. He looked down at the spinning wheel standing there in
the recess of the window, and tried to link the thing up with it. But
there seemed no peg to hang a clue upon there. Obviously the thing had
been "worked" with just such an idea to disguise its real purport.

Then he thought of the letters that he had found in the desk, hidden
away and yellowed with Time's fingers, and tied about with faded ribbon.
And of a sudden something flashed across his face which, Mr. Narkom
watching him as a cat does a mouse and knowing to a nicety what those
expressions so often meant, made that worthy gentleman positively jump
with excitement.

Cleek smiled at him and shook a head over his eagerness. Then he turned
to the rest of them.

"No need now to prolong this unpleasant and unhappy interview," he said
quietly. "Mr. Duggan has given his parole, and also the worthy Captain
over there. The Yard's men will do the rest. But I must renew my request
that none of you leaves this house to-day, or goes beyond the walls of
the garden, unless under special permission from Mr. Narkom or myself.
Just for to-day, my friends. By to-morrow perhaps the riddle may be
solved, or its end in sight. But for the next twenty-four hours I must
beg your assistance, every one of you, to bring it to a successful and
definite close."

His requ