When Joe was excited the intangible Capital Letters which decorated his pompous speech multiplied exceedingly. He was clearly excited at that moment. A light which in anybody else would have been called martial shone in his eyes and his grasp on his umbrella was fidgety. Recovering slightly she closed the door behind him and led him into the sitting-room. There had been nobody else to be seen in the corridor. "Now what d'you want?" she asked sharply. "I want to see Jimmy," he replied, so bluntly that she was taken aback. "Jimmy's in Devonshire--you know that," she said. His cherubic blue eyes wandered round the room, and came to rest at last on a felt hat which lay on the floor by the chesterfield. Before she could stop him he had picked it up and seen the name written in the lining. "This wasn't here when I was!" he squeaked excitedly. "Jimmy's been here since we left! Where is he?" "I brought that in to clean a stain off it," she told him calmly. "Jimmy won't be back till to-morrow. If you want to see him so badly try again to-morrow evening." He wiggled a fat forefinger all but in her face, literally dancing in his agitation. "Woman, Do Not Lie To Me!" His flustered effervescence resulted in speech that fairly bristled with capitals. "I Want The Truth. Jimmy Has Been Here. Jimmy Is Here! Where's he hiding? Where's he gone? What've you done with him? Answer Me!" Question overflowed question in one delirious cataract but Joan had recovered her composure to some extent by this time. "What's your game?" she demanded hotly. "Coming into my flat at this hour of the night and making a scene! Get out, Blaythwayt. Who d'you think you are? Who are you? Some fly cop--one of these clever busies out of a serial?" "No, madam--my Warrant!" With an air of a conjuror he produced from his waistcoat pocket a glittering silver and enamel badge, and she recoiled in horrified amazement from the sign of the Triangle. It is doubtful if he observed her perturbation at all. At all events he ignored it. His blue eyes swept the room again, peering at every nook as though he expected to find Mattock concealed behind a flower-pot or cached behind a picture. He saw the closed partition door, and let out an electrifying squawk of eagerness. She saw the inspiration dawn in his brain, and made an instinctive movement to block the way--a rash step which she instantly regretted. "Stand Aside, Madam," he commanded tremblingly; and, when she did not budge, he pulled her rudely away and kicked open the door. She tried to hold him back, impelled by she knew not what fear, but he flung her off like a child. He dashed into the other room and she followed him to find him blinking open-mouthed at emptiness. Mattock's bag stood on the table but Mattock himself was gone and the door leading into the passage stood wide.