warning look in in the direction of
the house and its open windows.

"I don't want to alarm Miss Raven," I said in a low voice, which I
purposely kept as matter-of-fact as possible. "Something has happened.
You know the man I was telling you of last night--Salter Quick? I
found his dead body, half-an-hour ago, on your beach. He has been
murdered--stabbed to the heart. Your gamekeeper, Tarver, is with him.
Had you not better send for the police?"

I carefully watched both men as I broke the news. Its effect upon them
was different in both cases. Mr. Raven started a little; exclaimed a
little: he was more wonder-struck than horrified. But Mr. Cazalette's
mask-like countenance remained immobile; only, a gleam of sudden,
almost pleased interest showed itself in his black, shrewd eyes.

"Aye?" he exclaimed. "So you found your man dead and murdered,
Middlebrook? Well, now, that's the very end that I was thinking the
fellow would come to! Not that I fancied it would be so soon, nor so
close at hand. On one's own doorstep so to speak. Interesting! Very
interesting!"

I was too much taken aback by his callousness to make any observation
on these sentiments; instead, I looked at Mr. Raven. He was evidently
too much surprised just then to pay any attention to his elder guest:
he motioned me to follow him.

"Come with me to the telephone," he said. "Dear, dear, what a very sad
thing. Of course, the poor fellow has been murdered for his money? You
said he'd a lot of gold on him."

"It's not been for robbery," I answered. "His money and his watch are
untouched. There's more in it than that."

He stared at me as if failing to comprehend.

"Some mystery?" he suggested.

"A very deep and lurid one, I think," said I. "Get the police out as
quickly as possible, and bid them bring a doctor."

"They'll bring their own police-surgeon," he remarked, "but we have a
medical man closer at hand. I'll ring him up, too. Yet--what can they
do?"

"Nothing--for him," I replied. "But they may be able to tell us at
what hour the thing took place. And that's important."

When we left the telephone we went to the morning-room, to get a
mouthful of food before going down to the beach. Miss Raven was
there--so was Cazalette. I saw at once that he had told her the news.
She was sitting behind her tea and coffee things, staring at him: he,
on his part, a cup of tea in one hand, a dry biscuit in the other, was
marching up and down the room sipp