his job."

"No, no!" Harleston objected. "Whiteside has been punished. I intercede
for him. Let him continue in his job, please."

"Very good, sir," Ranleigh acquiesced. "But he'll be informed that he
owes his retention entirely to you."

When Ranleigh departed, after hearing a detailed account of the
evening's doings at the hotel, Harleston sat for a little while
thinking; finally he drew over a pad and made a list of things that
required explanation, or seemed to require explanation, at the present
stage of the matter:

"(1) The translation of the cipher letter. This should explain Madeline
Spencer's connection with the affair.

"(2) Did the following persons, incidents, or circumstances have any
bearing on the affair.

"(a) The lone and handsome woman, who left the Collingwood at three that
morning.

"(b) The note 'à l'aube du jour' (signed) 'M,' found in Crenshaw's
pocket.

"(c) The telephone call of the Chartrand apartment at 12:52 A.M., by a
man who said that he was 'here' and to meet him at 10 A.M.

"(d) The persons in the Chartrand apartment the previous night.