that Madame Zichy had once been a spy in the employ of the
Russian Third Section, but that lately she had been repudiated by her
own government and was living by her wits, by blackmail, and by her
beauty. Lord Edam laid this record before his son, but Chetney either
knew it already or the woman persuaded him not to believe in it, and the
father and son parted in great anger. Two days later the marquis altered
his will, leaving all of his money to the younger brother, Arthur.

"The title and some of the landed property he could not keep from
Chetney, but he swore if his son saw the woman again that the will
should stand as it was, and he would be left without a penny.

"This was about eighteen months ago, when apparently Chetney tired of
the Princess, and suddenly went off to shoot and explore in Central
Africa. No word came from him, except that twice he was reported as
having died of fever in the jungle, and finally two traders reached
the coast who said they had seen his body. This was accepted by all
as conclusive, and young Arthur was recognized as the heir to the Edam
millions. On the strength of this supposition he at once began to borrow
enormous sums from the money lenders. This is of great importance, as
the police believe it was these debts which drove him to the murder of
his brother. Yesterday, as you know, Lord Chetney suddenly returned from
the grave, and it was the fact that for two years he had been considered
as dead which lent such importance to his return and which gave rise
to those columns of detail concerning him which appeared in all the
afternoon papers. But, obviously, during his absence he had not tired of
the Princess Zichy, for we know that a few hours after he reached London
he sought her out. His brother, who had also learned of his reappearance
through the papers, probably suspected which would be the house he would
first visit, and followed him there, arriving, so the Russian servant
tells us, while the two were at coffee in the drawing-room. The
Princess, then, we also learn from the servant, withdrew to the
dining-room, leaving the brothers together. What happened one can only
guess.

"Lord Arthur knew now that when it was discovered he was no longer the
heir, the money-lenders would come down upon him. The police believe
that he at once sought out his brother to beg for money to cover the
post-obits, but that, considering the sum he needed was several hundreds
of thousands of pounds