before. The case seemed rapidly going from bad to worse, and already it
had been suggested that I should give it up and return to my duty
without further waste of time. This, as you may naturally suppose, I had
no desire to do.

I worried myself about it day and night, giving it a great deal more
attention in fact than I should bestow upon such a matter now, or even
upon cases of twice the importance. If there had been nothing else in my
favour, my attention to duty should have been sufficient to have
commended me to my superiors. It was the other way round, however. The
Press were twitting the authorities concerning their inability to
discover the murderer, and more than hinted at the inefficiency of the
Detective Force. When I had been engaged upon the matter for about a
fortnight, and with what success I have already informed you, the
Commissioner sent for me, and told me that he did not think my
qualifications were sufficiently marked to warrant my being employed
longer on the task in hand. This facer, coming upon the top of all the
hard work I had been doing, and possibly my nerves were somewhat
strained by my anxiety, led me to say more than I intended. Though a man
may have the bad luck to fail in a thing, he seldom likes to be reminded
of it. It was certainly so in my case. Consequently I was informed that
at the end of the month my connection with the Queensland Police would
terminate.

"Very well, sir," I said, "in the meantime, if you will give me the
opportunity, I will guarantee to catch the murderer and prove to you
that I am not as incapable as you imagine."

I have often wondered since that I was not ordered back to the Bush
there and then. The fact remains, however, that I was not, and thus I