icer's
family. And while she was in India she was charged with strangling a
fellow-servant--a Eurasian girl who had excited her jealousy."

Brereton started again at that, and he turned a sharp glance on Carfax,
who nodded emphatically and signed to Leykin to proceed.

"I have the report of that affair in my pocket," continued Leykin, more
softly and slowly than ever. "It's worth reading, Mr. Brereton, and
perhaps you'll amuse yourself with it sometime. But I can give you the
gist of it in a few words. Pett was evidently in love with her master's
orderly. He wasn't in love with her. She became madly jealous of this
Eurasian girl, who was under-nurse. The Eurasian girl was found near the
house one night with a cord tightly twisted round her neck--dead, of
course. There were no other signs of violence, but some gold ornaments
which the girl wore had disappeared. Pett was tried--and she was
discharged, for she set up an _alibi_--of a sort that wouldn't have
satisfied me," remarked Leykin in an aside. "But there was a queer bit
of evidence given which you may think of use now. One of the witnesses
said that Pett had been much interested in reading some book about the
methods of the Thugs, and had talked in the servants' quarters of how
they strangled their victims with shawls of the finest silk. Now this
Eurasian girl had been strangled with a silk handkerchief--and if that
handkerchief could only have been traced to Pett, she'd have been found
guilty. But, as I said, she was found not guilty--and she left her place
at once and evidently returned to England. That's all, sir."

"Stobb has a matter that might be mentioned," said Carfax, glancing at
the other inquiry agent.

"Well, it's not much, Mr. Brereton," said Stobb. "It's merely that we've
ascertained that Kitely had left all he had to this woman, and that----"

"I know that," interrupted Brereton. "She made no concealment of it. Or,
rather, her nephew, acting for her, didn't."

"Just so," remarked Stobb drily. "But did you know that the nephew had
already proved the will, and sold the property? No?--well, he has! Not
much time lost, you see, after the old man's death, sir. In fact, it's
been done about as quickly as it well could be done. And of course Miss
Pett will have received her legacy--which means that by this time she'll
have got all that Kitely had to leave."

Brereton turned to the solicitor, who, during the recital of facts by
the two inquiry agents,