entered. The position of the body, just behind the door,
proved that. Also he was still wearing his thin Inverness, and his hat
had rolled to a corner of the little hall. He had not even had time to
replace his keys in his trousers pocket; they dangled loosely from their
chain, and jingled as the body was lifted and moved to the inner room.

The rooms were in great disorder, and had been subjected to an
exhaustive search; even the books had been tumbled out of their shelves
and thrown on the floor. But ordinary robbery was evidently not the
motive, for there were several articles of value scattered about the
room; nor had the body been rifled. Cassavetti wore a valuable diamond
ring, which was still on his finger, as his gold watch was still in his
breast-pocket; it had stopped at ten minutes to twelve.

"Run down, so that shows nothing," the detective remarked, as he opened
it and looked at the works. "Do you know if your friend carried a
pocket-book, Mr. Wynn? He did? Then that's the only thing missing. It
was papers they were after, and I presume they got 'em!"

That was obvious enough, for not a scrap of written matter was
discovered, nor the weapon with which the crime was committed.

"It's a fairly straightforward case," Inspector Freeman said
complacently, later, when the gruesome business was over, and the body
removed to the mortuary. "A political affair, of course; the man was a
Russian revolutionary--we used to call 'em Nihilists a few years
ago--and his name was no more Cassavetti than mine is! Now, Mr. Wynn,
you told me you knew him, and dined with him last night. Do you care to
give me any particulars, or would you prefer to keep them till you give
evidence at the inquest?"

"I'll give them you now, of course," I answered promptly. "I can't
attend the inquest, for I'm leaving England to-morrow morning."

"Then you'll have to postpone your journey," he said dryly. "For you're
bound to attend the inquest; you'll be the most important witness. May I
ask where you were going?"

I told him, and he nodded.

"So you're one of Lord Southbourne's young men? Thought I knew your
face, but couldn't quite place you," he responded. "Hope you won't meet
with the same fate as your predecessor. A sad affair, that; we got the
news on Friday. Sounds like much the same sort of thing as this"--he
jerked his head towards the ceiling--"except that Mr. Carson was an
Englishman, who never ought to have mixed himself up wi