iness, I told
Mr. Whiteside that Mr. Lyne had opened it."

"He didn't receive the telegram?" asked Tarling.

"No, sir."

The two detectives looked at one another.

"Well, what do you make of that, Whiteside?"

"I'm blest if I know what to think of it," said Whiteside, scratching his
head. "We depended upon that telegram to implicate the girl. It breaks a
big link in the chain against her."

"Supposing it was not already broken," said Tarling almost aggressively.

"And it certainly removes the only possible explanation for Lyne going to
the flat on the night of the murder. You're perfectly sure, Cole, that
that telegram did not reach Mr. Lyne?"

"Perfectly, sir," said Cole emphatically. "I took it in myself. After Mr.
Lyne drove off I went to the door of the house to get a little fresh air,
and I was standing on the top step when it came up. If you notice, sir,
it's marked 'received at 9.20'--that means the time it was received at
the District Post Office, and that's about two miles from our place. It
couldn't possibly have got to the house before Mr. Lyne left, and I was
scared to death that you clever gentlemen would have seen that."

"I was so clever that I didn't see it," admitted Tarling with a smile.
"Thank you, Mr. Cole, that will do."

When the man had gone, he sat down on a chair opposite Whiteside and
thrust his hands into his pockets with a gesture of helplessness.

"Well, I'm baffled," he said. "Let me recite the case, Whiteside, because
it's getting so complicated that I'm almost forgetting its plainest
features. On the night of the fourteenth Thornton Lyne is murdered by
some person or persons unknown, presumably in the flat of Odette Rider,
his former cashier, residing at Carrymore Mansions. Bloodstains are found
upon the floor, and there is other evidence, such as the discovery of the
pistol and the spent bullet, which emphasises the accuracy of that
conclusion. Nobody sees Mr. Lyne come into the flat or go out. He is
found in Hyde Park the next morning without his coat or vest, a lady's
silk night-dress, identified as Odette Rider's, wrapped tightly round his
breast, and two of Odette Rider's handkerchiefs are found over the wound.
Upon his body are a number of daffodils, and his car, containing his
coat, vest and boots, is found by the side of the road a hundred yards
away. Have I got it right?"

Whiteside nodded.

"Whatever else is at fault," he smiled, "your memory is unchallengeable."