"Very good!" muttered Dunbar, making an entry in his book; "your clerk,
then, whom I can see in a moment, identifies the murdered woman as Mrs.
Vernon. What was her Christian name?"

"Iris--Iris Mary Vernon."

Inspector Dunbar made a note of the fact.

"And now," he said, "you will have read the copy of that portion of my
report which I submitted to you this morning--acting upon information
supplied by Miss Helen Cumberly?"

"Yes, yes, Inspector, I have read it--but, by the way, I do not know
Miss Cumberly."

"Miss Cumberly," explained the detective, "is the daughter of Dr.
Cumberly, the Harley Street physician. She lives with her father in
the flat above that of Mr. Leroux. She saw the body by accident--and
recognized it as that of a lady who had been named to her at the last
Arts Ball."

"Ah!" said Debnam, "yes--I see--at the Arts Ball, Inspector. This is a
mysterious and a very ghastly case."

"It is indeed, sir," agreed Dunbar. "Can you throw any light upon the
presence of Mrs. Vernon at Mr. Leroux's flat on the very night of her
husband's death?"

"I can--and I cannot," answered the solicitor, leaning back in the