gidly official attitude. But his
instincts of caution quickly reasserted themselves, and he told himself
that in this sinister case it was his business to be on his guard and
talk to nobody.

The situation was terminated by the reappearance of Miss Heredith from a
door at the side of the house. The detective was a little surprised to
see her again, for he had conceived the idea that she had gone indoors
to avoid meeting him. She went eagerly to Musard without noticing him.

"Oh, Vincent!" she exclaimed, and the look of relief on her face was
unmistakable. "Sir Ralph Horton is just leaving. He says that Phil has
passed the crisis, and there is no need for him to stay any longer. Phil
still needs great care and attention, but Sir Ralph says it will be
quite safe to leave him in Dr. Holmes's hands. There is no fear for his
brain, thank God."

"This is good news," said Musard. "Have you told Sir Philip?"

"Not yet. I thought it better to defer it until after dinner. I want you
to tell him then."

Miss Heredith turned as though to re-enter the house, but Caldew, who
had been hovering a few paces away within earshot of this dialogue,
approached her with the gold chain in his hand.

"Excuse me, Miss Heredith," he said. "One of the maids told me that you
no longer occupied the room upstairs in the left wing, so I took the
liberty of going in there to see if it was possible for the murderer to
have escaped by clambering from the window of one room to another, and
while I was there I found this chain. It was hanging out of a drawer of
the toilet-table near the window, and as it had obviously been forgotten
I thought I had better restore it to you."

He held it out to her as he finished speaking, keenly watching her face
for some sign of confusion or trepidation. But Miss Heredith received
the chain calmly, and thanked him for returning it. Caldew was
disappointed at the failure of his test, but he essayed a further shot.

"I noticed a very peculiar little image among the charms on the chain,"
he said hesitatingly. "I have never seen anything like it before, and I
couldn't help wondering where it came from."

It was a clumsy trap, and he realized it, but he was too anxious to
achieve his end by more subtle methods. There was nothing in Miss
Heredith's calm countenance to suggest that she was alarmed or uneasy at
his curiosity. She turned to Musard.

"Mr. Caldew means the strange little image you gave me when you arrived