had been committed, in the opinion of the police.

"What makes you so certain that this was the revolver?" he inquired,
more to satisfy his conscience by leaving no question unasked than to
voice any doubt upon the point.

The other smiled as he explained the peculiarity of the pistol; it had
been made in Melbourne, and it carried the bullet of peculiar size which
had been extracted from Alexander Minchin's body.

"But London is full of old Australians," objected Langholm, for
objection's sake.

"Well, sir," laughed the officer, "you find one who carries a revolver
like this, and prove that he was in Chelsea on the night of the murder,
with a motive for committing it, and we shall be glad of his name and
address. Only don't forget the motive; it wasn't robbery, you know,
though her ladyship was so sure it was robbers! There's the maker's name
on the barrel. I should take a note of it, sir, if I was you!"

That name and that note were all that Langholm had to show when he dined
with the criminologist at his service club the same evening. The
amateur detective looked a beaten man already, but he talked through
his teeth of inspecting the revolvers in every pawnbroker's shop in
London.

"It will take you a year," said the old soldier, cheerfully.

"It seems the only chance," replied the despondent novelist. "It is a
case of doing that or nothing."

"Then take the advice of an older fogey than yourself, and do nothing!
You are quite right to believe in the lady's innocence; there is no
excuse for entertaining any other belief, still less for expressing it.
But when you come to putting salt on the real culprit, that's another
matter. My dear fellow, it's not the sort of thing that you or I could
hope to do on our own, even were the case far simpler than it is. It was
very sporting of you to offer for a moment to try your hand; but if I
were you I should confess without delay that the task is far beyond you,
for that's the honest truth."

Langholm walked back to his hotel, revolving this advice. Its soundness
was undeniable, while the source from which it came gave it exceptional
weight and value. It was an expert opinion which no man in his senses
could afford to ignore, and Langholm felt that Mrs. Steel also ought at
least to hear it before building on his efforts. The letter would
prepare her for his ultimate failure, as it was only fair that she
should be prepared, and yet would leave him free to strain every