but you and I are never likely to get
sentimental about one another."

"Why not?" he grumbled. "We've always been pretty good pals, haven't
we?"

"Naturally," she answered, "or I shouldn't be here. Do you want to hear
anything more about Mr. Hamilton Fynes?"

"Of course I do," he declared.

"Well, be quiet, then, and don't interrupt," she said. "I knew London
well and he didn't. That is why, as I told you before, we saw quite
a great deal of one another. He was always very reticent about his
affairs, and especially about the business which had taken him on the
Continent. Just before he left, however, he gave me--well, a hint."

"What was it?" the young man asked eagerly.

She hesitated.

"He didn't put it into so many words," she said, "and I am not sure,
even now, that I ought to tell you, Dicky. Still, you are a fellow
countryman and a budding diplomatist. I suppose if I can give you a lift
I ought to."

The taxi was on the Embankment now, and they sped along for some time in
silence. Mr. Richard Vanderpole was more than a little puzzled.

"Of course, Penelope," he said, "I don't expect you to tell me anything
which you feel that you oughtn't to. There is one thing, however, which
I must ask you."

She nodded.

"Well?"

"I should like to know what the mischief my being in the diplomatic
service has to do with it?"

"If I explained that," she answered, "I should be telling you everything
I haven't quite made up my mind to do that yet."

"Tell me this?" he asked. "Would that hint which he dropped when he was
here last help you to solve the mystery of his murder?"

"It might," she admitted.

"Then I think," he said, "apart from any other reason, you ought to tell
somebody. The police at present don't seem to have the ghost of a clue."

"They are not likely to find one," she answered, "unless I help them."

"Say, Penelope," he exclaimed, "you are not in earnest?"

"I am," she assured him. "It is exactly as I say. I believe I am one of
the few people who could put the police upon the right track."

"Is there any reason why you shouldn't?" he asked.

"That's just what I can't make up my mind about," she told him.
"However, I have brought you out with me expecting to hear something,
and I am going to tell you this. That last time he came to England--the
time he went to St. Petersburg and twice to Berlin--he came on
government business."

The young man looked, for a moment, incredulous.

"Are yo