"Where did you take your fare up?" he asked quickly.

"Savoy Hotel," the man answered. "What's wrong with him?"

The policeman opened the door of the cab and stepped in.

"Never you mind about that," he said. "Drive to the South
Kensington police station as quick as you can."



CHAPTER VIII. AN INTERRUPTED THEATRE PARTY

Seated upon a roomy lounge in the foyer of the Savoy were three
women who attracted more than an average amount of attention from
the passers-by. In the middle was the Duchess of Devenham, erect,
stately, and with a figure which was still irreproachable
notwithstanding her white hair. On one side sat her daughter,
Lady Grace Redford, tall, fair, and comely; on the other, Miss
Penelope Morse. The two girls were amusing themselves, watching
the people; their chaperon had her eye upon the clock.

"To dine at half-past seven," the Duchess remarked, as she looked
around the _entresol_ of the great restaurant through her
lorgnettes, "is certainly a little trying for one's temper and
for one's digestion, but so long as those men accepted, I
certainly think they ought to have been here. They know that the
play begins at a quarter to nine."