he didn't shoot at it this time. Instead, he packed a small bag, ran over
and said good-bye to 'Toinette and told her he was going to have a day in
town, but told her nothing else. Then he took the twelve o'clock train to
town. A taxi whisked him to Scotland Yard.




CHAPTER X

--AND THE LADY


And this was the extraordinary chain of events which brought young
Merriton into Mr. Narkom's office that day while Cleek was sitting there,
and on being introduced as "Mr. Headland" heard the story from Sir
Nigel's lips.

As he came to the last "And no trace of either body has ever been found,"
Cleek suddenly switched round in his chair and exclaimed:

"An extraordinary rigmarole altogether!" Meeting Merriton's astonished
eyes with his own keen ones, he went on: "The flames, of course, are a
plant of some sort. That goes without saying. But the thing to find out
is what they're there for to hide. When you've discovered that, you'll
have got half way to the truth, and the rest will follow as a matter of
course.... What's that, Mr. Narkom? Yes, I'll take the case, Sir Nigel.
My name's Cleek--Hamilton Cleek, at your service. Now let's hear the
thing all over again, please. I've one or two questions I'd like to ask."