CHAPTER I

THE RUMOUR


Every man has a right to be conceited until he is famous--so it is
said; and perhaps unconsciously, Mark Brendon shared that opinion.

His self-esteem was not, however, conspicuous, although he held that
only a second-rate man is diffident. At thirty-five years of age he
already stood high in the criminal investigation department of the
police. He was indeed about to receive an inspectorship, well earned
by those qualities of imagination and intuition which, added to the
necessary endowment of courage, resource, and industry, had created
his present solid success.

A substantial record already stood behind him, and during the war
certain international achievements were added to his credit. He felt
complete assurance that in ten years he would retire from government
employ and open that private and personal practice which it was his
ambition to establish.

And now Mark was taking holiday on Dartmoor, devoting himself to
his hobby of trout fishing and accepting the opportunity to survey
his own life from a bird's-eye point of view, measure his
achievement, and consider impartially his future, not only as a
detective but as a man.