be taken in a lorry to the Pyramids. There was no sign, said the
barmaid and the landlord, that Bolton contemplated suicide, or
that he feared sudden death. His whole demeanor was cheerful,
and he expressed himself exceedingly glad to be in England once
more.

At eleven on the ensuing morning, a persistent knocking and a
subsequent opening of the door of Bolton's bedroom proved that he
was not in the room, although the tumbled condition of the
bed-clothes proved that he had taken some rest. No one in the
hotel thought anything of Bolton's absence, since he had hinted
at an early departure, although the chamber-maid considered it
strange that no one had seen him leave the hotel. The landlord
obeyed Bolton's instructions and sent the case, in charge of a
trustworthy man, to Brefort across the river. There a lorry was
procured, and the case was taken to Gartley, where it arrived at
three in the afternoon. It was then that Professor Braddock,
in opening the case, discovered the body of his ill-fated
assistant, rigid in death, and with a red window cord tightly
bound round the throat of the corpse. At once, said the
newspapers, the Professor sent for the police, and later insisted
that the smartest Scotland Yard detectives should come down to
elucidate the mystery. At present both police and detectives
were engaged in searching for a needle in a haystack, and so far
had met with no success.

Such was the tale set forth in the local and London and
provincial journals. Widely as it was discussed, and many as
were the theories offered, no one could fathom the mystery. But
all agreed that the failure of the police to find a clue was