[Dark Saint Alaick]

He gazed frowningly out of the window. That this was a second murder there could be no doubt. The sheer audacity of the crime appalled him. Some of what were regarded as the best brains in the C.I.D. had come to the house to elucidate the murder of Ewen Jones and while they were there in full command, and almost under their very noses, this terrible thing had been done.

That the two crimes were connected there could be no reasonable doubt. If he failed to solve the first what would be thought of him were he equally baffled by the second? He could almost hear the sniggers of his underlings. His career would be ended. That must not happen. No one should leave the house until he had torn the truth from them.

Shut Lady Bethesda's mouth! Who had said that? Who had acted upon it--and why?

After what seemed a long time Dr. Strange arrived. He was visibly distressed by this further tragedy in the most eminent family he served. He entered the room and the efforts to restore animation ceased. He made an examination and declared life extinct. Yeo signalled Allenby and Bellairs to withdraw and explained how the body had been found and showed the stocking.

"How long has she been dead?" he asked the doctor who was already busy testing the limbs for rigor and taking the temperature of the corpse.

"About an hour," was the reply. "We cannot be more exact than that."