al effects.

CHAPTER III

THE SHOE BUCKLE

Once outside the death-chamber, Allerdyke asked the manager to give him a
bedroom with a sitting-room attached to it, and to put Gaffney in another
room close by--he should be obliged, he said, to stay at the hotel until
the inquest was over and arrangements had been made for his cousin's
funeral. The manager at once took him to a suite of three rooms at the
end of the corridor which they were then in. Allerdyke took it at once,
sent Gaffney down to bring up certain things from the car, and detained
the manager for a moment's conversation.

"I suppose you'd a fair lot of people come in last night from that
Christiania boat?" he asked.

"Some fifteen or twenty," answered the manager.

"Did you happen to see my cousin in conversation with any of them?"
inquired Allerdyke.

The manager shrugged his shoulders. He was not definitely sure about
that; he had a notion that he had seen Mr. James Allerdyke talking with
some of the _Perisco_ passengers, but the notion was vague.

"You know how it is," he went on. "People come in--they stand about
talking in the hall--groups, you know--they go from one to another. I
think I saw him talking to that doctor who's in there now with Dr.
Orwin--the man with the big beard--and to a lady who came at the same
time. There were several ladies in the party--the passengers were all
about in the hall, and in the coffee-room, and so on. There are a lot of
other people in the house, too, of course."

"It's this way," said Allerdyke. "I'm not at all satisfied about what
these doctors say, so far. They may be right, of course--probably are.
Still I want to know all I can, and, naturally, I'd like to know who the
people were that my cousin was last in company with. You never know what
may have happened--there's often something that doesn't show at first."

"There was--nothing missing in his room, I hope?" asked the manager with
professional anxiety.

"Nothing that I know of," answered Allerdyke. "My man and I have searched
him, and taken possession of everything--all that he had on him is in
that bag, and I'm going to examine it now. No--I don't think anything had
been taken from him, judging by what I've seen."

"You wouldn't like me to send for the police?" suggested the manager.

"Not at present," replied Allerdyke. "Not, at any rate, until these
doctors say something more definite--they'll know more presently,
no doubt. Of course,