"What Wing means is that being a Chinaman himself, naturally he could get news of a fellow-Chinaman from fellow-Chinamen where you, an Englishman, wouldn't get any at all!" he said with a laugh. "I dare say that if you, Mr. Scarterfield, went down Limehouse way seeking particulars about Chuh Fen, you'd be met with blank faces and stopped ears." "That's just what I'm suggesting, doctor," answered the detective, good-humouredly. "I'll put the thing in a nutshell--my profound belief is that if we want to get at the bottom of these two murders we've got to go back a long way, to the _Elizabeth Robinson_ time, and that Chuh Fen is the only person I've heard of, up to now, who can throw a light on that episode. And it seems to me, to be plain about it, that Mr. Wing there could be extremely useful." "How?" asked Lorrimore. "He's at your service, I'm sure." "Well, by finding out if this Chuh Fen, when he was here, three years since, made any revelations to his Chinese brethren in Limehouse or elsewhere," replied Scarterfield. "He may have known something about the brothers Quick and concerning that _Elizabeth Robinson_ affair that would help immensely. Any little thing!--a mere scrap of information--just a bit of chance gossip--a hint--you don't know how valuable these things are. The mere germ of a clue--you know!" "I know," said Lorrimore. He turned to his servant and addressed him in some strange tongue in which Wing at once responded: for some minutes they talked together, volubly: then Lorrimore looked round at Scarterfield. "Wing says that if Chuh Fen was in London three years ago he can engage to find out how long he was here, whence he came and why, and where he went," he said. "I gather that there's a sort of freemasonry amongst these men--naturally, they seek each other out in strange lands, and there are places in London and the other parts to which a Chinaman resorts if he happens to land in England. This he can do for you--he's no doubt of it." "There's another thing," said Scarterfield. "If Chuh Fen is still in England--as he may be--can he find him?" Wing's smooth countenance, on hearing this, showed some sign of animation. Instead of replying to the detective, he again addressed his master in the foreign tongue. Lorrimore nodded and turned to Scarterfield with a slightly cynical smile. "He says that if Chuh Fen is anywhere in England he can lay hands on him, quickly," said Lorrimore. "But--he adds that it might not be at all convenient to Chuh Fen to come into the full light of day: Chuh Fen may have reasons of his own for desiring strict privacy."