se himself by a perceptible effort.

Sowerby, whose bowler hat lay upon Dunbar's table, was clad in the
familiar raincoat, and his ruddy cheerfulness had abated not one whit.

"Have you ever read 'The Adventures of Martin Zeda'?" he asked suddenly,
breaking a silence of some minutes' duration.

Dunbar looked up with a start, as...

"Never!" he replied; "I'm not wasting my time with magazine trash."

"It's not trash," said Sowerby, assuming that unnatural air of
reflection which sat upon him so ill. "I've looked up the volumes of the
Ludgate Magazine in our local library, and I've read all the series with
much interest."

Dunbar leaned forward, watching him frowningly.

"I should have thought," he replied, "that you had enough to do without
wasting your time in that way!"

"IS it a waste of time?" inquired Sowerby, raising his eyebrows in a
manner which lent him a marked resemblance to a famous comedian. "I tell
you that the man who can work out plots like those might be a second
Jack-the-Ripper and not a soul the wiser!"...

"Ah!"

"I've never met a more innocent LOOKING man, I'll allow; but if you'll
read the 'Adventures of Martin Zeda,' you'll know that"...

"Tosh!" snapped Dunbar, irritably; "your ideas of psychology would
make a Manx cat laugh! I suppose, on the same analogy, you think the
leader-writers of the dailies could run the Government better than the
Cabinet does it?"

"I think it very likely"...

"Tosh! Is there anybody in London knows more about the inside workings
of crime than the Commissioner? You will admit there isn't; very
good. Accordingly to your ideas, the Commissioner must be the biggest
blackguard in the Metropolis! I have said it twice before, and I'll be
saying it again, Sowerby: TOSH!"

"Well," said Sowerby with an offended air, "has anybody ever seen Mr.
King?"

"What are you driving at?"

"I am driving at this: somebody known in certain circles as Mr. King
is at the bottom of this mystery. It is highly probable that Mr. King
himself murdered Mrs. Vernon. On the evidence of your own notes, nobody
left Palace Mansions between the time of the crime and the arrival of
witnesses. Therefore, ONE of your witnesses must be a liar; and the liar
is Mr. King!"

Inspector Dunbar glared at his subordinate. But the latter continued
undaunted:--

"You won't believe it's Leroux; therefore it must be either Mr. Exel,
Dr. Cumberly, or Miss Cumberly."...

Inspector Dunbar stood up v