ushed and dishevelled.

"I have been down to the village looking for you," he said, in a
querulous tone. The majesty of the law had not vested Caldew with any
dignity in the old butler's eyes. He saw in him only the village urchin
of a score of years ago, whose mischievous pranks on the Heredith estate
had been a constant source of worry to him.

The detective appreciated the estimation in which the old man held him,
and the fact did not tend to lessen his own irritation.

"What did you want me for?" he curtly asked.

"I did not want you, but the gentlemen in the library do. Superintendent
Merrington thought you had been a long time away, and he sent me down to
the village to look for you. He is anxious to return to London. You will
find him in the library."

The butler's cool assumption that it was Merrington's privilege to
command, and Caldew's duty to obey, nettled the latter considerably. He
felt that Merrington had, in his offensive way, deliberately asserted
his official authority in order to humiliate him in his native place.
Acting on the impulse of anger he replied:

"I have some things to attend to before I can see him. You can tell him
so, if you like."

He walked away towards the hall door, conscious that the butler was
standing stationary by the stairs, watching him. When he got outside, he
turned his steps towards the garden; but brief as had been the interval
since he had seen Musard and Miss Heredith conversing together by the
sundial, it had been sufficient to bring the conversation to a
conclusion. Miss Heredith was no longer to be seen, and Musard was
sauntering along the gravel walk smoking a cigar.

Had they seen him at the window, and broken off their conference in
consequence? It looked as if this were so. Miss Heredith must have
entered the house by another door, because if she had gone in by the
front door he must have encountered her. Caldew would have retraced his
steps if Musard had not looked up, and, seeing the detective, waited for
him to approach.

Caldew walked towards him, wondering whether Miss Heredith had missed
her chain of charms, and had gone upstairs to find it. In that case, he
reflected grimly, the position of the previous night was reversed, and
this time it was she who was forestalled. It was an ironical situation,
truly, but he was to some extent the master of it.

Musard nodded to the detective and proffered his cigarcase. Caldew
accepted a cigar and admired the