man described as Marbury came into my shop. He--"

"What time--exact time?" asked Spargo.

"Two--to the very minute by St. Clement Danes clock," answered Mr.
Criedir. "I'd swear twenty affidavits on that point. He was precisely
as you've described him--dress, everything--I tell you I knew his
photo as soon as I saw it. He was carrying a little box--"

"What sort of box?" said Spargo.

"A queer, old-fashioned, much-worn leather box--a very miniature trunk,
in fact," replied Mr. Criedir. "About a foot square; the sort of thing
you never see nowadays. It was very much worn; it attracted me for that
very reason. He set it on the counter and looked at me. 'You're a
dealer in stamps--rare stamps?' he said. 'I am,' I replied. 'I've
something here I'd like to show you,' he said, unlocking the box.
'It's--'"

"Stop a bit," said Spargo. "Where did he take the key from with which
he unlocked the box?"

"It was one of several which he carried on a split ring, and he took
the bunch out of his left-hand trousers pocket," replied Mr. Criedir.
"Oh, I keep my eyes open, young gentleman! Well--he opened his box. It
seemed to me to be full of papers--at any rate there were a lot of
legal-looking documents on the top, tied up with red tape. To show you
how I notice things I saw that the papers were stained with age, and
that the red tape was faded to a mere washed-out pink."