devil of a hurry."

Inspector Seldon was seated in the taxi-cab when Flack appeared. He had
been impatiently drumming his fingers on the door of the cab.

"Jump in, man," he said angrily. "What has kept you all this time?"

Flack breathed stertorously to show that he had been running and was out
of breath, but he made no reply to the official rebuke. Inspector Seldon
turned to him and remarked severely:

"Why didn't you let me know that Sir Horace Fewbanks had returned from
Scotland?"

Flack looked astonished.

"But he hasn't returned, sir," he said. "He's away for a month at least,"
he ventured to add.

"Who told you that?"

"The housemaid at Riversbrook--before he went away."

"H'm." The inspector's next question contained a moral rebuke rather than
an official one. "You're a married man, Flack?"

"Yes, sir."

"So the housemaid told you he was going away for a month. Well, she ought
to know. When did she tell you?"