scratches on the
moss-covered surface of the rock, turned to Hilton Fenley.

"With reference to the rifle which has been mentioned--where is it
kept?" he said.

"In my brother's room. He bought it nearly a year ago, when he was
planning an expedition to Somaliland."

"May I see it?"

Fenley signed to the butler, who was standing with the others at a
little distance.

"You know the .450 Express which is in the gun rack in Mr. Robert's
den?" he said. "Bring it to the Superintendent."

Tomlinson, shaken but dignified, and rather purple of face as the
result of the tramp through the trees, went indoors. Soon he came
back, and the rich tint had faded again from his complexion.

"Sorry, sir," he said huskily, "but the rifle is not there."

"Not there!"

It was Sylvia Manning who spoke; the others received this sinister
fact in silence.

"No, miss."

"Are you quite sure?" asked Fenley.

"It is not in the gun rack, sir, nor in any of the corners."

There was a pause. Fenley clearly forced the next words.

"That's all right. Bates may have it in the gun room. We'll ask him.
Or Mr. Robert may have taken it to the makers. I remember now he spoke
of having the sight fitted with some new appliance."

He called Bates. No, the missing rifle was not in the gun room.
Somehow the notion was forming in certain minds that it could not be
there. Indeed, the keeper's confusion was so marked that Furneaux's
glance dwelt on him for a contemplative second.

CHAPTER IV

BREAKING COVER

Winter drew the local Inspector aside. "This inquiry rests with you in
the first instance," he said. "Mr. Furneaux and I are here only to
assist. Mr. Fenley telephoned to the Commissioner, mainly because
Scotland Yard was called in to investigate a bond robbery which took
place in the Fenley Bank some two months ago. Probably you never heard
of it. Will you kindly explain our position to your Chief Constable?
Of course, we shall work with you and through you, but my colleague
has reason to believe that the theft of the bonds may have some
bearing on this murder, and, as the securities were disposed of in
Paris, it is more than likely that the Yard may be helpful."

"I fully understand, sir," said the Inspector, secretly delighted at
the prospect of joining in the hunt with two such renowned detectives.
The combined parishes of Easton and Roxton seldom produced a crime of
greater magnitude than the theft of a duck. The arrest of a