come here to remind me of it?"

"Madam," Mr. Jacks said, "I have not come here to gratify any
personal curiosity. I have come here in the cause of justice. You
should find me a welcome visitor, for both these men who have
lost their lives were friends of yours."

"I should be very sorry indeed," Penelope answered, "to stand in
the way of justice. No one can hope more fervently than I do that
the perpetrator of these deeds will be found and punished. But
what I cannot understand is your coming here and reopening the
subject with me. I tell you again that I have no possible
information for you."

"Perhaps not," the Inspector declared, "but, on the other hand,
there are certain questions which you can answer me,--answer
them, I mean, not grudgingly and as though in duty bound,--answer
them intelligently, and with some apprehension of the things
which lie behind."

"And what is the thing that lies behind them?" she asked.

"A theory, madam," the Inspector answered,--"no more. But in this
case, unfortunately, we have not passed the stage of theories. My
theory, at the present moment, is that the murderer of these two
men was the same person."

"You have evidence to that effect," she said, suddenly surprised
to find that her voice had sunk to a whisper.