“‘Well, betwixt you and me, I think there ain’t two ways about it. I’ve lived in families before where they was pretty hard up for ready money sometimes, and were only too ready to do it.’ “‘Do what?’ “‘Why, pawn ‘em, to be sure.’ “‘What, pawn banknotes?’ “‘No, the banknotes haven’t been pawned. There’s no need of that. I expect they’ve been paid away for something on the quiet. The master wouldn’t be the first man that had secrets from his wife.’ “‘And how about the papers? You don’t imagine anybody would take them in pawn, do you?’ “‘Humph. As if that wasn’t a part of the bamboozlement. You don’t throw dust in my eyes too long.’ “With this remark the cook clenched the conversation, and I must confess that my thoughts had wandered for some time somewhat in the same direction. The incredulous looks of at least one of the clerks also bore out the cook’s reasoning. Still, if the object was merely to bamboozle his wife, why should the owner of the property said to be stolen make such a fuss, and go to such an expense to bring about an unravelment that could but be inimical to his own interests, if he were playing a double game? The whole case is as complex and awkward as any I have come across, and I want your help in it.” I had listened very attentively to my uncle’s story, and had already framed my own idea of the duties expected of me. “You wish me to keep a careful watch upon all the people in the Flowers establishment, while professing to discharge domestic duties?” I suggested. “Precisely,” was the answer. “Both Mr and Mrs Flowers approve of the plan, and you are expected to-day.” A few more preliminaries being settled, I prepared myself at once for my new duties, and found, on arriving at 15, Kite-street, that I was supposed to be a temporary housekeeper, vice Mrs Flowers herself, incapacitated through trouble and anxiety, consequent upon the mysterious series of robberies that had taken place in the house. The poor woman’s incapacity for supervising the daily routine of her household was not feigned. She was really so ill and upset that I advised her to put herself under the care of the family doctor, who would give her something to quieten her nerves. Meanwhile, if she would lie down and rest, I told her, I would see that things were so conducted in the kitchen and elsewhere that Mr Flowers should miss none of his accustomed comforts. It was with a sigh of satisfaction that she yielded herself to my arrangement, and I also found the servants easy to cope with. The principal topic of conversation both in parlours and kitchens was the facility with which it seemed possible for somebody or other to take what they pleased out of the house. Before bed time I had gleaned every possible item of information relating to the mystery, and had formed my theory as to the true state of things.