result. Ashton did not appear to have kept any letters or papers relative
to his life or doings prior to his coming to England. Private documents
of any sort he seemed to have none. And whatever business had taken him
to Marketstoke, they could find no written reference to it; nor could
they discover anything about the diamond of which Mr. Van Hoeren had
spoken. They went upstairs to his bedroom and examined the drawers,
cabinets and dressing-case--they found nothing.

"This is distinctly disappointing," remarked Mr. Pawle when he and Viner
returned to the little room. "I never knew a man who left such small
evidence behind him. It's quite evident to me that there's nothing
whatever in this house that's going to be of any use to us. I wonder if
he rented a box at any of the safe-deposit places? He must have had
documents of some sort."

"In that case, we should surely have found a key, and perhaps a receipt
for the rent of the box," suggested Viner. "I should have thought he'd
have had a safe in his own house," he added, "but we don't hear of one."

Mr. Pawle looked round the room, as if suspicious that Ashton might have
hidden papers in the stuffing of the sofa or the easy-chair.

"I wonder if there's anything in that," he said suddenly. "It looks like
a receptacle of some sort."

Viner turned and saw the old lawyer pointing to a curious Japanese
cabinet which stood in the middle of the marble mantelpiece--the only
really notable ornament in the room. Mr. Pawle laid hold of it and
uttered a surprised exclamation. "That's a tremendous weight for so small
a thing!" he said. "Feel it!"