“Now, I’m going to tell you, Parr, what I have told nobody else, not even the Commissioner,” said Yale. “We think of the Crimson Circle organisation as being run by a man. I happen to know that this girl has met the man who initiated her into the mysteries of the gang, whatever they are. But I also know that, so far from being the master, this mysterious gentleman in the motor-car, takes his orders, as everybody else does, from the real centre of the organisation--which is Thalia Drummond!” “Good Lord!” said the inspector. “You wonder why I had her in my office? I told you it was because I thought she would bring us closer to the Circle. And I was right.” “But why dismiss her?” asked the other quickly. “Because she had done something which merited dismissal,” said Yale, “and if I had not fired her then and there, she would have known that I was keeping her in my office with an object. I might have saved myself the trouble, apparently,” he smiled, “because this morning’s work proves that she knew what my game was.” His thin, delicate face darkened, and then he said almost sharply: “When you have told your story to-night to the Prime Minister and his friends, I have a little story to tell which I think will surprise you.” “Nothing you can say will ever surprise me,” said Mr. Parr. The third shock which Derrick Yale received that day came on his return home. The first half of his surprise was to find that his servant was out. The one woman he employed did not sleep on the premises, but she was supposed to remain in the flat until nine o’clock in the evening. It was exactly six when Derrick Yale came in to find the place in darkness. He turned on the light and made a tour of the rooms. Apparently, the sitting-room was the only apartment which had been disturbed, but here, whoever the intruder had been and he could guess her name, she had been very thorough and painstaking. It was not necessary for him to seek out the servant and discover what had happened. She had been called away from the house by a message purporting to come from him--he guessed that much. And whilst she was away Thalia Drummond had examined the contents of the flat at her leisure. “A clever young woman!” said Derrick without malice, for he could admire even the genius which was employed against himself. She had lost no time. Within twelve hours she had broken gaol, ransacked both his office and his flat, and had removed documents which had a vital bearing upon the Crimson Circle. He dressed himself leisurely, wondering what would be her next move. Of his own he was certain. Within twenty-four hours Inspector Parr would be a broken man. From a drawer in his dressing-room he took a revolver, looked at it for a moment speculatively, and slipped it into his hip pocket. There was going to be a startling and a sensational end to the chase of the Crimson Circle, an end wholly unforeseen by the spectators of the tragic game.