XLII. A FAMILY COUNCIL. XLIII. AUNT ROB PLAYS THE PART OF FAIRY GODMOTHER. XLIV. IN THE CAUSE OF JUSTICE. XLV. CROSS PURPOSES. XLVI. "THE LITTLE BUSY BEE'S" REPORT OF THE CONTINUATION OF THE INQUEST. XLVII. "THE LITTLE BUSY BEE" CONTINUES ITS REPORT OF THE INQUEST. XLVIII. THE CORONER'S SUMMING-UP. XLIX. LITTLE GRACIE DEATH ON THE TRAIL. L. EZRA LYNN, THE MONEY-LENDER. LI. A DEAD LOCK. LII. ARRESTED FOR MURDER. LIII. GRACIE RELATES THE STORY OF HER ADVENTURES. LIV. EXTRACTS FROM "THE BUSY BEE" OF FRIDAY, THE 15TH OF MARCH, 1896. LV. CONSTABLE APPLEBEE ON THE WATCH. LVI. EXTRACTED FROM THE DIARY OF DAVID LAMBERT, DETECTIVE OFFICER. LVII. DETECTIVE LAMBERT CONTINUES HIS DIARY. LVIII. THE DISCOVERY OF THE CRYPTOGRAM. LIX. CONSTABLE APPLEBEE DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF. LX. FROM THE DIARY OF DETECTIVE LAMBERT. LXI. FROM "THE LITTLE BUSY BEE" OF THURSDAY, MARCH 21ST. LXII. AT THE MAGISTRATE'S COURT. LXIII. CONTINUATION OF THE TRIAL. LXIV. A STARTLING DENOUEMENT. LXV. FROM "THE LITTLE BUSY BEE." LXVI. JOY. SAMUEL BOYD OF CATCHPOLE SQUARE. * * * * _A MYSTERY_. * * * * CHAPTER I. ABEL DEATH AT WORK. At six o'clock in the evening of the first day of March, in the year of Grace, 1898, Abel Death, a man of middle age, with a face appropriate to his name--which should never be given to any living human being--was sitting at his desk, employed in the task of writing the last of a number of letters, in accordance with the instructions of his employer, Mr. Samuel Boyd, of No. 6, Catchpole Square, in the North district of London. The letters all referred to Money: to Money due for principal and interest, and to warnings and threats of what would be done in case prompt payment was not made at such and such an hour on such and such a day. Uncompromising and relentless to the point of cruelty, debtors were told in plain terms that ruin was their portion if Mr. Boyd's demands were not complied with. Abel Death appeared to be just the kind of man for the task he was executing, being hollow cheeked and sunken eyed; his hands were long and lean, his movements eager and restless. Clad in shabby and badly fitting clothes, he did not belie the position he occupied, that of an ill paid drudge working long hours for a hard taskmaster.