itude he was
encouraged by a nod from Luckstone.

"Beard, you have nothing to hide," urged Britz. "Why don't you talk? Are
you going to aid the murderer of your employer to escape punishment?"

But Beard was not to be enticed into speech. Britz might as well have
appealed to a lay figure for all the response he received.

The detective whispered to Greig, who hastened out of the room. Not a
word was uttered while he was gone. But a sharp exclamation of protest
escaped from Beard's lips when Greig opened the door and deferentially
showed a young woman into the room.

"Miss Burden--who brought you here?" demanded Luckstone, bolting out of
his chair.

"A detective came for me," she answered in a low voice.

Evidently the summons to appear at Police Headquarters had puzzled her,
for she looked in a bewildered way from one to the other of the groups
in the room. With a woman's sure instinct, however, she read that
something was transpiring which threatened ill to the man who had won
her affections, and she walked over to him with hand extended.

"Here is a chair for you," said Britz, halting her. At the same time he
placed a seat for her next to Mrs. Collins. An expression of pity
overspread the girl's face as she beheld the lines of suffering in the
other woman's countenance, and, as she dropped into a chair provided for
her, her hand stole into Mrs. Collins's palm.

"Why--what does this mean?" she asked timorously, lifting her eyes to
meet Britz's glance.

"Simply that you have been invited here as a witness," the detective
replied. "Mr. Beard is going to clear the mystery surrounding Mr.
Whitmore's death. He's going to tell us who killed his employer."

"Not a word!" cautioned Luckstone.

"Beard, I'll make your position clear to you!" said Britz dryly. "I'll
let you know precisely where you stand. You're keeping silent in a
mistaken effort to shield Mrs. Collins from scandal. You're mute for the
same reason that Mr. Whitmore tried to hide the fact that he was
murdered! He thought he could keep Mrs. Collins's name out of the
newspapers. He wanted to save her from scandalous references involving
her character! But you see how futile all his efforts were! You see how
useless his self-inflicted torture was! Beard, look at this girl!" Britz
pointed dramatically toward Miss Burden. "You're engaged to her. You've
got a great deal to look forward to! But unless you get up now and tell
the truth, the whole truth, conc