"I've already told him I never did," retorted Louisa Speck, pointing at Meeking. "I didn't see him with it. But I'm very certain he got it!" Stedman waved the witness away, and Meeking proceeded to put in the depositions taken before the Coroner in regard to the finding of the fragment of handkerchief and its ownership, and called evidence to show that the piece just produced was that which had been picked up from the hearth in the Mayor's Parlour on the evening of the murder, soon after the finding of the dead man, and to prove that it had remained in the custody of the police ever since. The fragment went the round of the bench of magistrates, and Tansley whispered to Brent that if Meeking could prove that Krevin Crood had taken that handkerchief out of Mallett's drawer, and had thrown it away on the following evening in the Mayor's Parlour, Krevin's neck was in danger. "But there's a link missing yet," he murmured. "How did Krevin get at Wallingford? They've got to prove that! However, Meeking's evidently well primed and knows what he's after. What's coming next?" What came next was the glancing of the barrister's eye towards a venerable, grey-bearded man who sat in the front row of spectators, leaning on a gold-headed cane. He rose as Meeking looked at him, and came slowly forward--a curious figure in those sombre surroundings. CHAPTER XXIII THE CONNECTING WALL From a certain amount of whispering and nodding that went on around him, Brent gathered that this ancient gentleman was not unknown to many of those present. But Tansley was turning to him, ready as always with information. "That's old Dr. Pellery," he whispered. "Old Dr. Septimus Pellery. Tremendous big pot on antiquarianism, archaeology, and that sort of stuff. Used to live here in Hathelsborough, years ago, when I was a youngster. I should have thought he was dead, long since! Wonder where they unearthed him, and what he's here for? No end of a swell, in his own line anyway." Meeking seemed determined to impress on the court the character and extent of Dr. Pellery's qualifications as an expert in archaeological matters. Addressing him in an almost reverential manner, he proceeded to enumerate the witness's distinctions. "Dr. Pellery, you are, I believe, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries?" "I have that honour." "And a member of more than one archaeological society?" "I am." "And a corresponding member of various foreign societies of a similar sort?" "For many years." "You are also, I think, a Doctor of Civil Law of the University of Oxford?" "Yes." "And the author of many books and articles on your pet subject--archaeology?" "That is so." "Am I right, Dr. Pellery, in believing that you are thoroughly well acquainted with the archaeology, antiquities, and ancient architecture of this town?" "Quite right. I lived here for several years--ten or eleven years." "That was--when?" "It is about twenty years since I left this place."