Mrs. Holdfast is mistaken in her belief that her husband did not write to her because he had injured his hand, and was unwilling to employ an amanuensis. Our Reporter, after he left Mrs. Holdfast, had an interview with the former landlady of 119 Great Porter Square, who has left the house, and would under no consideration return to it. The landlady states that, on three occasions, she entered Mr. Holdfast's room when he was in it, and that on every occasion he was writing, and apparently writing freely. It did not appear to her that his hand was injured in the slightest degree. There was no bandage or plaister upon it, and he did not complain. We are in a position also to declare that, at the _post-mortem_ examination, no recent injury of the right hand was perceptible. The whole of Mr. Holdfast's property has been left by him, in a properly attested will, to his widow. When he made this will his son Frederick was alive. Not a shilling, however, is left to the son. Mrs. Holdfast has offered a reward of five hundred pounds for the discovery of the murderer of her husband. We have no doubt our readers will appreciate our enterprise in presenting them with this circumstantial account of the latest phase of the Great Porter Square Mystery. The question that now remains to be answered is--Where is Mr. Holdfast's son? [Decoration] CHAPTER XXI. RICHARD MANX MAKES LOVE TO "SWEET BECKY." On the morning following the publication of the Supplement to the _Evening Moon_, Becky had occasion to observe that her mistress, Mrs. Preedy, was earnestly engaged in the perusal of a newspaper. A great deal of house-work had to be done on this morning; there was a general "cleaning-up;" floors and stairs to be scrubbed, chairs and tables to be polished, and looking-glasses and windows to be cleaned; and as the greater portion of this work fell to Becky's share, she was kept busily employed until the afternoon. She was, therefore, in ignorance of the publication of the statement in the _Evening Moon_, and her curiosity was but languidly aroused by Mrs. Preedy's pre-occupation, until, by mere chance, she caught sight of the heading, "The Murder in Great Porter Square." She turned hot and cold, and her pulses quickened. "Is that something fresh about the murder next door?" she ventured to ask. "Yes, Becky," replied Mrs. Preedy, but did not offer any explanation of the contents. It was not Becky's cue to exhibit more than ordinary interest in the matter, and she merely remarked, "I thought it might be something about the houses being haunted."