th some men sitting in
the parlour, and after awhile, glancing at his watch, went out--and
was never seen again alive. His dead body was found next morning at a
lonely spot on an adjacent creek, by a fisherman--like Salter, he had
been stabbed, and in similar fashion. And as in Salter's case, robbery
of money and valuables had not been the murderer's object. Noah Quick,
when found, had money on him, gold, silver; he was also wearing a gold
watch and chain and a diamond ring; all these things were untouched,
as if the murderer had felt contemptuous of them. But here again was a
point of similarity in the two crimes--Noah Quick's pocket's had been
turned out; the lining of his waistcoat had been slashed and slit; his
thick reefer jacket had been torn off him and subjected to a similar
search--its lining was cut to pieces, and it and his overcoat were
found flung carelessly over the body. Close by lay his hard felt
hat--the lining had been torn out.

This, according to the evidence given at the inquests and to the facts
collected by the police at the places concerned, was all that came
out. There was not the slightest clue in either case. No one could say
what became of Salter Quick after he left me outside the Mariner's
Joy; no one knew where Noah Quick went when he walked out of the
Saltash inn into the darkness. At each inquest a verdict of wilful
murder against some person or persons unknown was returned, and the
respective coroners uttered some platitudes about coincidence and
mystery and all the rest of it. But from all that had transpired it
seemed to me that there were certain things to be deduced, and I find
that I tabulated them at the time, writing them down at the end of the
newspaper clippings, as follows:

1. Salter and Noah Quick were in possession of some secret.

2. They were murdered by men who wished to get possession of it for
themselves.

3. The actual murderers were probably two members of a gang.

4. Gang--if a gang--and murderers were at large, and, if they had
secured possession of the secret would be sure to make use of it.

Out of this arose the question--what was the secret? Something, I had
no doubt whatever, that related to money. But what, and how? I
exercised my speculative faculties a good deal at the time over this
matter, and I could not avoid wondering about Mr. Cazalette and the
yew-hedge affair. He never mentioned it; I was afraid and nervous
about telling him what I had seen. N