king a careful and minute examination of the place.

Search for the weapon with which the crime had been committed proved
fruitless; hence it was plain that the murderer had carried it away.
There were no signs whatever of a struggle, and nothing to indicate
that the blow had been struck by any burglar with a motive of
silencing the prostrate man.

The room was a large front one on the first floor, with two French
windows opening upon a balcony formed by the big square portico. Both
were found to be secured, not only by the latches, but also by long
screws as an extra precaution against thieves, old Mr. Courtenay, like
many other elderly people, being extremely nervous of midnight
intruders. The bedroom itself was well furnished in genuine Sheraton,
which he had brought up from his palatial home in Devonshire, for the
old man denied himself no personal comfort. The easy chair in which he
had sat when I had paid my visit was still in its place at the
fireside, with the footstool just as he had left it; the drawers which
we opened one after another showed no sign of having been rummaged,
and the sum result of our investigations was absolutely _nil_.

"It looks very much as though someone in the house had done it,"
whispered the inspector seriously to me, having first glanced at the
door to ascertain that it was closed.

"Yes," I admitted, "appearances certainly do point to that."

"Who was the young lady who met us downstairs?" inquired the detective
sergeant, producing a small note-book and pencil.

"Miss Ethelwynn Mivart, sister to Mrs. Courtenay."

"And is Mrs. Courtenay at home?" he inquired, making a note of the
name.

"No. We have sent for her. She's staying with friends in London."

"Hulloa! There's an iron safe here!" exclaimed one of the men
rummaging at the opposite side of the room. He had pulled away a chest
of drawers from the wall, revealing what I had never noticed before,
the door of a small fireproof safe built into the wall.

"Is it locked?" inquired the inspector.

The man, after trying the knob and examining the keyhole, replied in
the affirmative.

"Keeps his deeds and jewellery there, I suppose," remarked one of the
other detectives. "He seems to have been very much afraid of burglars.
I wonder whether he had any reason for that?"

"Like many old men he was a trifle eccentric," I replied. "Thieves
once broke into his country house years ago, I believe, and he
therefore entertained a h