of paper back to him with a shake of the head.

"No. I never saw it before," she retorted, and passed out.

But Heldon Foyle had her finger-prints.

CHAPTER XXII

Sir Hilary Thornton lifted his coat-tails to the cheerful blaze as he
stood with his back to the fireplace. Heldon Foyle, with the book which
he was giving his nights and days to compiling on the desk in front of
him, sat bolt upright in his chair talking swiftly. He was giving an
account of the progress of the investigation. Now and again he ran a
well-manicured finger down the type-written index and turned the pages
over quickly to refer to a statement, a plan, or a photograph. Or he
would lift one of the speaking-tubes behind his desk and send for some
man who had been charged with some inquiry, to question him on his
report.

"These youngsters are all the same," he complained querulously. "They
will put flowers into their reports. It is always a beast of a job to
make 'em understand that we want a fact plain and prompt. They can do it
all right in the witness-box, but when they get a pen in their hand they
fancy they're budding Shakespeares. The old hands know better."

He passed from this outburst to particulars of what had happened. The
Assistant Commissioner listened gravely, now and again interpolating a
question or a suggestion. Foyle rapidly ran over the case, emphasising
his points with a tap of his finger on the pile of papers.

"We're progressing a little, though not so fast as I'd like. We know
that Grell is alive, that he is in touch with Ivan Abramovitch and Lola
Rachael--or the Princess Petrovska, as she calls herself. There is at
least one other man in it--probably more. It's fairly certain that Grell
knows who killed Harry Goldenburg even if he didn't do it himself.
Goldenburg was apparently dressed in Grell's clothes before he was
killed. It is clear now that the clothes were his own with Grell's
belongings put in the pockets. A Mexican dagger was used. That may be or
may not be of importance. Grell has travelled in Mexico. We have
eliminated Ivan and Sir Ralph Fairfield as the actual murderers. Nor do
the Princess Petrovska's finger-prints agree. I had Bolt take the
finger-prints of all the servants in the house, so that we are sure that
none of them actually committed the crime. All this narrows the
investigation. If we find Grell we are in a fair way to finding the
author of the murder."

Sir Hilary Thornton stroked his