have touched the wires and have set them ringing. The peal is
described as being short and sharp. This theory is a weak
one, we are aware, but the whole case is so mysterious that,
weak as it is, we can offer no other solution.

"Mrs. Herne, the servants, and Messrs. Hale and Clancy were
examined. All insist that Miss Loach was in her usual health
and spirits, and had no idea of committing suicide, or of
being in any danger of sudden death. The weapon cannot be
discovered, nor the means--save as we suggest above--
whereby the assassin can have made his escape. The whole
affair is one of the most mysterious of late years, and will
doubtless be relegated to the list of undiscovered crimes.
The police have no clue, and apparently despair of finding
one. But the discovery of the mystery lies in the bell. Who
rang it? or did it ring of itself, as we suggest above."

Cuthbert laid down the paper with a shrug. The article did
not commend itself to him, save as the means of making a
precis of the case. The theory of the bell appeared
excessively weak, and he could not understand a man being so
foolish as to put it forward.

"If the button was pressed down by Miss Loach, the bell would
have rung at once," argued Cuthbert; "and when it slipped up,
even with the heat, the ringing would have stopped. But the
bell rang at eleven, and the girl was in the room two minutes
later. Someone must have rung it. But why did someone do
this, and how did someone escape after ringing in so
fool-hardy a manner?"