ption of
your maid--as to the man, I will give you a description of him later.
These two, who had for luggage such a medium-sized suit-case as that Miss
Lennard has spoken of, partook of some supper and retired. There was
nothing noticeable about them--they seemed to be quiet, respectable
people--foreigners who spoke English very well. Nothing was heard of them
until next morning at eight o'clock, when the man rang his bell and asked
for tea to be brought up for both. This was done--he took it in at his
door, and was seen to hand a cup in at his sister's door, close by. An
hour later he came downstairs and gave instructions that his sister was
not to be disturbed--she was tired and wanted to rest, he said, and she
would ring when she wanted attendance. He then booked the two rooms again
for the succeeding night, and, going into the coffee-room, ate a very
good breakfast, taking his time over it. That done, he lounged about a
little, smoking, and eventually crossed the road towards the
station--since when he has not been seen. The day passed on--the woman
neither rang her bell nor came down. When evening arrived, as the man had
not returned, and no response could be got to repeated knocks at the
door, the landlady opened it with a master-key, and entered the room. She
found the woman dead--and according to the medical evidence she had been
dead since ten or eleven o'clock in the morning. Then, of course, the
police were called in. There was nothing in the room or in the suit-case
to establish or suggest identity. The body was removed, and an autopsy
has been held. And the conclusion of the medical men is that this woman
has been secretly and subtly poisoned."

Here the official paused, rang a bell, and remained silent until a
quiet-looking, middle-aged man who might have been a highly respectable
butler entered the room: then he turned again to his visitors.

"I want you, Miss Lennard, to accompany this man--one of my officers--to
the mortuary, to see if you can identify the body I have told you of.
Perhaps you gentlemen will accompany Miss Lennard? Then," he continued,
rising, "if you will all return here, we will go into this matter
further, and see if we can throw more light on it."

Allerdyke's next impressions were of a swift drive across London to a
quiet retreat in Paddington, where, in a red-brick building set amidst
trees, official-faced men conducted him and his two companions into a
sort of annex, one side o