to tea to-day!"

"He certainly would not," declared the girl emphatically.

"You believe he is coming for a purpose?"

"Yes."

"Elkin--I must drag him in again for an instant--pretends that the
commotion aroused in the village by this murder would incline you
favorably to a proposal of marriage. Mr. Siddle may have discovered some
virtue in the theory."

"Did Mr. Elkin really hint that I needed _him_ as a shield?"

Doris was genuinely angry now. She little imagined that Winter was
playing on her emotions with a master hand.

"Don't waste any wrath on Elkin," he soothed her. "The fellow isn't worth
it. But his crude idea might be developed more subtly by an abler man."

"I think it odd that Mr. Siddle should choose to-day, of all days, for a
visit," she admitted.

Winter relapsed into silence for a while. The car was running through a
charming countryside, and a glimpse of the sea was obtainable from the
crest of each hill. Mr. Fowler was too circumspect to break in on the
thread of his coadjutor's thoughts. The inquiry had taken a curious turn,
and was momentarily beyond his grasp.