, 1924-03-19

- uib " hhOFV -
had been arrested in the bar below for
the murder Of Victor Bidlake, had
taken poison and died on the way to
the police station. Yet the same num-
Der of dinners were ordered and
eaten, the same quantity of wine
drunk. The management considered
that they had shown marvellous dell
cacy of feeling by restraining the or
chestra from their usual musical gym
nnstics until after The service of din
ner. Conversation. in consequence
buzzed louder han ever. One specula-
ton in particular absorbed the atten-
ton of every single person in the room
why had Bobby Fairfax, at the
zenith of a very successful career,
risked the gallOws and actually ac-
cepted death for the sake of killing
Victor Bidlake. a young man with
whom. so far as anybody knew. he
had no cause of quarrel whatever?
There were many theories. many peo-
pie who knew the real facts and
whispered them into a neighbours ear,
only to have them contradicted a few
moments later. Yet %curiOusly enough,
the two men who knew most about 1t
were the two most silent men In the
room. for each vas dining alone.
Francis. who had remained only in the
hope that something of the sort might
happen, was conscious of a queer
sense Of excitement when. with the
service of coffee, Sir Timothy. glass
in hand. moved up from a table lower
down and with a word of apology took
the vacant place by his side. 1t was
what he had desired. and yet he felt
a thrill almost Of fear at Sir T%imOthy's
murmured words. He felt hat he was
in the company of one who. II not an
enemy, at any are had no friendly
feeling towards him.
MY congratulations, Mr.. Ledsam,'
Sir Timothy said quietly. "You ap
pear to ave started vour career with
a Success"
"Only a partial ane." Francis ac-
~knowledged. ian as q matter Of fart I
deny that ! have started in any new
career. 1t was easy enough to make
use of a fuke ana direct the lntelli-
gence Of others towards the right per-
son. but when the real significance OF
the thing still eludes you, one can
scarcely claim a triumph"
Sir Timothy gentlv knocked the ash
from the very fine cigar which he was
smoking.
still, your groundwork was good"
he observed.
Francis shrugged his shoulders.
That" he admitte@. was due to
CHARGE"
shall we EXCHANGE notes?" Sir Tim
othy suggested genrlv. -t might be
interesting"
LAS you WILL" Francis assented.
There Is no particular secret In the
way l stumbled upon the truth was
dining here that night. as o know.
with Andrew Wilmore. and while he
was ordering the dinner and talking
to some friends. I went down to the
American bar to have a cocktail. Miss
Daisy HyslOp int Fairfax were seat
ed there alone and talking confidential
ly. Fairfax was insisting that Miss
Hyslop should do something which
puzzled her. She consented reluctant
~, and Fairfax then hurried of to the
theater. Later on. Miss Hyslop and
the unfortunate young man occupied a
table close to ours. and | happened
to notice that she made a point Of leav-
ing h % restaurant nj a particular time.
While they were waiting In the vesti-
bule she grew very impatient. I was
standing behind item and I saw her
glance at the clock just before she in
sisted upon her companions going out
himself to look for n taxicab. Ergo.
n inquiries at Falrfax's theater. For
that exact three-quarters Of an hour
he is off the stage. At that point my
interest in the matter ceases. Scotland
Yard was quite capable of the rest"
Disappointing" Sir Timothy muir.
INJURED. ~ thought at first That you
were over-modest. I find that I was
mistaken. II was chance alone which
set you on the right track"
well. there is my story, Mt any
rate" Francis declared. with how
much OF your knowledge of the affair
are you going to indulge me?'
Sir Timothy slowly revolved his
brandy glass.
Well" he said. ct will tell you this.
The two young men concerned, Bid.
lake aad Fairfax. were both guests of
mine recently at my country house
They had discovered for one another a
very fierce and reasonable antipathy.
With that recurrence to prImltivism
with which I have always been a
hearty sympnthizer. they agreed, in.
stead OF going round their little world