Millicent Fayre-Michell also remembered it.

"Mr. Hardcastle declined to let his photograph be published in the
halfpenny papers, I remember," she said. "That struck me as so
wonderful. There was a reason given--that he did not wish the
public to know him by sight. I believe he is never seen as himself,
and that he makes up just as easily to look like a woman as a man."

"Some people believe he is a woman."

"No! You don't say that?"

"To have made up as that German's friend and so actually reached
his presence--nay, secured him! It is certainly one of the most
remarkable pages in the annals of crime," said Ernest Travers.

"Is he attached to Scotland Yard still, or does he work
independently?" asked Miles Handford.

"I don't know yet. Mannering has already urged me to consult
Scotland Yard at once. Indeed, he was going to approach them
to-day. Mr. Hardcastle shall certainly be invited to do what he
can. I shall leave no stone unturned to reach the truth. Yet what
even such a man can do is difficult to see. The walls of the Grey
Room are solid, the floor is of sound oak, the ceiling is nine
or ten inches thick, and supported by immense beams. The hearth
is modern, and the chimney not large enough to admit a human being.
This was proved twelve years ago."