"You've been down to the beach and back, sir?" the inspector asked, looking over a little wonderingly. "Every inch of the way. The last eighty feet or so I had to scramble." "Did you discover anything, sir?" "Not a thing. I couldn't even find a broken twig in any of the little clumps of outgrowing trees. There wasn't a sign of the sand having been disturbed anywhere down the face of the cliff, and I shouldn't think a human being had been on that beach during our lifetimes. I have had my night's work for nothing." "It was just the cry you fancied you heard which made you undertake this expedition?" "Precisely!" The inspector held up the broken rail. "When was this smashed?" he enquired. "I have no idea," Tallente answered. "All the woodwork about the place is rotten." "Doesn't it occur to you, sir, as being an extraordinarily dangerous thing to put it back in exactly the same position as though it were sound?" "Iniquitous," Tallente agreed. The inspector made a mental note. Tallente threw the remains of his cigarette into the sea. "I am going to bed now." he said. "Can I offer you any refreshment, Mr. Inspector, or are your investigations not yet complete?" "I thank you, sir, but I require nothing. I have some men up in the wood there and I shall join them presently. I am staying in the neighborhood." Tallente pointed to the rope. "If you would care to search for yourself, Mr. Inspector, we'll help you down." The man shook his head. "Scarcely a job for a man of my build, sir. I have a professional climber coming to-morrow. I wish you had informed me of your intention to go down to-night." "If you had informed me of your intention to remain in the neighborhood, that might have been possible," was the cool reply. The man took the loose wooden rail from its place and held it under his arm. "Walking off with a portion of my fence, eh?" Tallente asked. The inspector made no direct reply. He turned his torch on to the broken end. "A clue?" Tallente asked him lightly. The other turned away. "It is not my place, sir," he announced, "to share any discovery I might make with a person who has deliberately refused to assist the law." "No one has convinced me yet," Tallente replied, "that Palliser's disappearance is a matter in which the law need concern itself." The inspector coughed. "I wish you good night, sir." He disappeared along the narrow path. They listened to his retreating footsteps. Tallente picked up his end of the rope. "I was right," he said, as he led the way back to the house. "Quite the Inspector Bucket type." CHAPTER VI