"Exactly," I answered. "There is a suggestion to my mind of amateurishness in the affair. I grant the safe was not a difficult one to break open, but it had not been done in a very expert manner. The cigarette-ends, the dirty glasses, and the biscuit crumbs seem to me rather gratuitous deceptions, and----" "Wait," said Quarles. "You assume a little too much. They would have deceived nine men out of ten--you happen to be the tenth man. Amateur or not, we have to deal with a very smart man, so don't underestimate the enemy, Wigan. Assuming this to be the work of an amateur, to what definite point does it lead you?" "To this question," I replied. "Did Sir Joseph Maynard burgle his own house?" "Why should you think so?" "His manner was curious. Then there is only his own statement that nothing has been taken. But supposing he wished to get rid of papers, or of something else which was in his possession and for which he was responsible to others, a burglary would be an easy way out of the difficulty." "Would he not have robbed himself of something to make the affair more plausible?" said Quarles. "The amateur constantly overlooks the obvious," I answered. The professor shook his head. "Besides, Wigan, if he wanted to suggest that some important document had been stolen, that is just the one thing he would mention." "I think that would entirely depend on the man's temperament, professor." "That may be true, but we have also got to consider the man's character. Sir Joseph's standing is very high." "Sudden temptation or necessity may subvert the highest character," I answered. "You know that as well as I do. When I questioned Sir Joseph about his papers his manner seemed curious, as I have said. He at once declared that he had no part in any Government secret or mysterious society, gratuitous information, you understand, not in answer to any direct question of mine, showing that the ideas were in his mind. Why? The explanation would be simple if he were the burglar of his own papers." "I admit the argument is sound, Wigan, but it does not creep into my brain with any compelling influence. There is a link missing in the chain somewhere," and he looked at Zena. His often-repeated statement that she helped him by her questions had never impressed me very greatly. When a mystery was cleared up, it was easy to say that Zena had put him on the right road, and I considered it a whim of his more than anything else. Still I am bound to say that her seemingly irrelevant questions often had a curious bearing on the problem. It was so now. "You do not seem interested in the broken box of counters?" she said, turning toward her grandfather. "I wonder, Wigan--is that the clew?" Quarles said quickly. "It creeps into my brain." "The counters were in a heap," I said. "As if they had fallen out of the box when it was broken?" asked Quarles.