alone."

I sat bolt upright.

"What?" I cried.

"Not so loud," warned Harley.

"But, Harley--"

"My dear fellow, we must face facts. I repeat, the Colonel is not
alone."

"Why do you say so?"

"Twice I have seen a shadow on the blind of the smoke-room."

"His own shadow, probably."

Again Paul Harley's cigarette glowed in the darkness.

"I am prepared to swear," he replied, "that it was the shadow of a
woman."

"Harley----"

"Don't get excited, Knox. I am dealing with the strangest case of my
career, and I am jumping to no conclusions. But just let us look at the
circumstances judicially. The whole of the domestic staff we may
dismiss, with the one exception of Mrs. Fisher, who, so far as I can