told me
yesterday that I should be married romantically, but even in the wildest
flights of your imagination, Mrs. Morgan, you could never have supposed
that I should be married in such a violent, desperate way. I'm going to
bed." She paused on the landing and looked down at the dumbfounded
woman. "If anybody calls for me, I am not at home. Oh, yes, you can tell
the _Megaphone_ that I came home very late and that I've gone to bed,
and I'll call to-morrow to explain."

"But, miss," stammered the woman, "your husband----"

"My husband is dead," said the girl calmly. She felt a brute, but
somehow she could not raise any note of sorrow. "And if that lawyer man
comes, will you please tell him that I shall have twenty thousand pounds
in the morning," and with that last staggering statement, she went to
her room, leaving her landlady speechless.

Chapter VI

The police search of the house and grounds at Dulwich Grange, Mr.
Rennett's residence, occupied the whole of the morning, and neither
Rennett's nor Jack's assistance was invited or offered.

Before luncheon Inspector Colhead came to the study.

"We've had a good look round your place, Mr. Rennett," he said, "and I
think we know where the deceased hid himself."

"Indeed!" said Mr. Rennett.

"That hut of yours in the garden is used, I suppose, for a tool house.
There are no tools there now, and one of my men discovered that you can
pull up the whole of the floor, it works on a hinge and is balanced with
counter-weights."

Mr. Rennett nodded.

"I believe it was used as a wine cellar by a former tenant of the
house," he said coolly. "We have no cellars at the Grange, you know. I
do not drink wine, and I've never had occasion to use it."

"That's where he was hidden. We found a blanket, and pillows, down
there, and, as you say, it has obviously been a wine cellar, because
there is a ventilating shaft leading up into the bushes. We should never
have found the trap, but one of my men felt one of the corners of the
floor give under his feet."

The two men said nothing.

"Another thing," the detective went on slowly, "is that I'm inclined to
agree that Meredith did not commit suicide. We found footmarks, quite
fresh, leading round to the back of the hut."

"A big foot or a little foot?" asked Jack quickly.

"It is rather a big foot," said the detective, "and it has rubber heels.
We traced it to a gate at the back of your premises, and the gate has
been o