" Miss Morriston asked, clearly with
the object of dismissing the unfortunate episode.

"My remark about the cloak of night?" he replied. "Perhaps. I seem to
have heard something like it somewhere."

And as he spoke he glanced curiously at Miss Tredworth.

CHAPTER X

AN ALARMING DISCOVERY

Next evening the two friends at the _Golden Lion_ were engaged to dine
with the Morristons. They had been out with the hounds all day, and,
beyond the natural gossip of the country-side, had heard nothing fresh
concerning the tragedy. Gervase Henshaw had gone up to town for his
brother's funeral, and Host Dipper had no fresh development to report. In
answer to a question from Gifford, he said he expected Mr. Henshaw back
on the morrow, or at latest the day after.

"It is altogether a most mysterious affair," he observed sagely, being
free, now that his late guest's perplexing disappearance was accounted
for, even in that tragic fashion, to regard the business and to moralize
over it without much personal feeling in the matter. "I fancy Mr. Gervase
Henshaw means to work the police up to getting to the bottom of it. For
I don't fancy that he is by any means satisfied that his unfortunate
brother took his own life. And I must say," he added in a pronouncement
evidently the fruit of careful deliberation, "I don't know how it strikes
you, gentlemen, but from what I saw of the deceased it is hard to imagine
him as making away with himself."

"Yes," Gifford replied. "But before any other conclusion can be fairly
arrived at the police will have to account for the locked door."

Evidently Mr. Dipper's lucubrations had not, so far, reached a
satisfactory explanation of that puzzle; he could only wag his head and
respond generally, "Ah, yes. That will be a hard nut for them to crack,
I'm thinking."

The dinner at Wynford Place was made as cheerful as, with the gloom of a
tragedy over the house, could be possible.

"We had the police with a couple of detectives here all this morning,"
Morriston said, "and a great upset it has been. After having made the
most minute scrutiny of the room in the tower they had every one of the
servants in one by one and put them through a most searching examination.
But, I imagine, without result. No one in the house, and I have
questioned most of them casually myself, seems to be able to throw the
smallest light on the affair."

"Have the police arrived at any theory?" Gifford inquired.

"App