"Well, between ourselves, the contents of the envelope astonished me very much. The envelope, stamped with the name of Pavely's Bank, contained two rather scurrilous anonymous letters. To me, the curious thing consisted in the fact that Pavely had thought it worth while to keep them. I should have destroyed them at once in his place." "Do they throw any light on the mystery?" "No, of course not, or they would have been produced in evidence to-day. But still, one never can tell. Of course we are keeping them." He added significantly, "They were not letters I should have cared to hand back to Mr. Pavely's widow." And then the Commissioner of Police added something which very much surprised his companion: "By the way, talking of Mr. Pavely's widow, I do earnestly beg you to try and dissuade Mrs. Pavely from continuing that thousand pounds reward." "Surely the reward has lapsed now? The only person entitled to it would be this man, Fernando Apra himself." "Ah, but Mrs. Pavely--or so Mr. Tropenell tells me--is quite determined to keep the offer of the reward open. Whereas before the discovery of Mr. Pavely's body the reward was offered for any information leading to his discovery dead or alive, that same sum is now to be offered to any one who can bring us into communication with this Portuguese fellow himself. I'm bound to say that Mr. Tropenell saw at once all the inconvenience of such a course, and he has done his best to dissuade Mrs. Pavely. But she's quite set on it! I fancy she's been persuaded to go on with it by Mrs. Winslow." "Ah!" said Lord St. Amant. "I can't say that that surprises me. Mrs. Winslow----" Then he stopped short, and the other looked quickly round at him, and exclaimed: "I wish you'd tell me a little more than I've been able to find out about this Mrs. Winslow. What exactly was her position in the Pavely _ménage_?" Lord St. Amant hesitated. He felt bound to stand up for poor Katty. So, "Only that she and poor Godfrey Pavely were very old friends--friends from childhood," he answered slowly. "And since the time she divorced her husband Mrs. Winslow has lived close to The Chase--in fact, she was their tenant." "Then Mrs. Winslow was Pavely's rather than Mrs. Pavely's friend?" "Yes--if you care to put it that way." "I've very little doubt--in fact I feel quite sure, St. Amant, that Mrs. Winslow knows a great deal more about the whole affair than she has chosen to reveal. When she and I talked the whole thing over, I brought her to admit that she _had_ heard something of this secret business arrangement between Pavely and Fernando Apra. But if she was speaking the truth--and I think she was--there was a reason for her having been told. She was herself investing a small sum in the concern." "The devil she was!" Lord St. Amant was very much surprised. "Yes, and on Pavely's advice, of course. I take it that he was on more confidential terms with this lady than he was with his own wife?"