“Very well, ma’am. I think you are acting wisely. By the way, there is one question which you may be able to answer. In looking through Dr. Weathered’s diary of appointments with his patients I have noticed that some of their names are followed by numbers, and I should like to know what that means.” The widow received the question with an air of complete surprise. It was impossible to doubt her declaration that she had no idea of the existence of the curious ciphers, much less of their use. But Sarah gave the questioner a quick look, and again I thought a secret understanding was established between them. The first words uttered by my chief, when we were in the car driving away, told me what the understanding was. “That girl means to come and see me. She isn’t satisfied; and she won’t be without vengeance on the woman she hates.” The prediction was promptly fulfilled. The girl must have found some excuse for leaving the house within a few minutes after us. We had been back less than half an hour when she was announced. She burst in upon us like a fury. “Sir Frank Tarleton, what does this mean? My step-father was murdered, and you know it. You are trying to hush up the case, I suppose, because some of the people involved in it are so high up that the police want to let them off. There seems to be one law for the rich and another for the poor. It’s the high-up people, the people with titles, who are the worst. I’ve seen those numbers in the diary, and I can guess pretty well what they mean. They’re the guilty patients, the ones who were in his power, and had the greatest motive to murder him. If you want to know more you had better apply to Lady Violet Bredwardine.” It was an appalling shock. Just as I had reached the comforting conclusion that Lady Violet’s alibi had put an end to the investigation as far as she was concerned, this passionate girl had launched a denunciation that threatened to drag everything to light. I turned in consternation to my chief. He had taken out his gold repeater and begun to swing it to and fro at the end of its scrap of ribbon in a way that told me he was pondering deeply on this new development of the case. He made a motion with his hand towards me. “Dr. Cassilis, here, can tell you that you are mistaken in thinking that the police are trying to hush up the case, or to screen anyone connected with it. Tell Miss Neobard what they reported to you.” The indignant Sarah faced me in some surprise. My own surprise was greater than hers. I was at a loss to understand Tarleton’s motive for handing over the vindication of the police to me. Did he expect my word to carry more weight with the excited girl than his own? Or was he simply testing my ability to deal with a critical situation? And if so, how far did he mean me to go? Was I to let the accuser know that the police had been on her track as well as Lady Violet’s? I spoke in some confusion.