ement. She moved towards the door of the
cottage, taking a key from her muff.

"Yes?" she said. "And--I suppose you want my father to help? He may be
in--he may have gone to bed."

She unlocked the door, walked into the open living-room, and turning up
a lamp which stood on the table, glanced around her.

"No," she continued. "He's not come in--so----"

"Better tell her, Mr. Bent," whispered the sergeant. "No use keeping it
back, sir--she'll have to know."

"The fact is," said Bent, "Mr. Kitely--we're afraid--has been murdered."

The girl turned sharply at that; her eyes dilated, and a brighter tinge
of colour came into her cheeks.

"Murdered!" she exclaimed. "Shot?"

Her eyes went past Bent to a corner of the room, and Brereton, following
them, saw that there stood a gun, placed amongst a pile of fishing-rods
and similar sporting implements. Her glance rested on it for only the
fraction of a second; then it went back to Bent's face.

"I'd better tell you everything," said Bent quietly. "Mr. Kitely has
been strangled. And the piece of cord with which it was done is--so the
police here say--just such a piece as might have been cut off one of the
cords which your father uses in his trade, you know."

"We aren't suggesting aught, you know, Miss Avice," remarked the
sergeant. "Don't go for to think that--at present. But, you see,
Harborough, he might have one o' those cords hanging about somewhere,
and--do you understand?"

The girl had become very quiet, looking steadily from one man to the
other. Once more her eyes settled on Bent.

"Do you know why Kitely was killed?" she asked suddenly. "Have you seen
any reason for it?"

"He had been robbed, after his death," answered Bent. "That seems
absolutely certain."

"Whatever you may say, you've got some suspicion about my father," she
remarked after a pause. "Well--all I can say is, my father has no need
to rob anybody--far from it, if you want the truth. But what do you
want?" she continued, a little impatiently. "My father isn't in, and I
don't know where he is--often he is out all night."

"If we could just look round his shed, now?" said the sergeant. "Just to
see if aught's missing, like, you know. You see, miss----"

"You can look round the shed--and round anywhere else," said Avice.
"Though what good that will do--well, you know where the shed is."

She turned away and began taking off her hat and coat, and the four men
went out into the garden and