“That’s right, sir,” nodded “Flush.” “It was what you might call an act of Providence, him being sweet on her, and when I found that he’d invited her to dinner, I thought that was a good opportunity to get in. It seemed money for nothing when I found out that he’d drawn his bank balance. I opened the safe--that was easy--and I found the envelope, but it had no papers, only a photograph of a man and a woman on a rock. I think it was a photograph of some place abroad, for there were lots of mountains in the background, and he seemed to be pushing her over and she was holding on to a bit of tree. Maybe it was one of those cinema pictures. Anyway, I burnt it.” “I see,” said Inspector Parr. “And that is all?” “That’s all, sir. I never found any money.” At seven o’clock, with a warrant in his pocket, and accompanied by two detectives, Inspector Parr made a call at the block of flats where Brabazon had his residence. A servant in night attire opened the door to them and indicated the banker’s room. The door was locked, but Parr kicked it open without ceremony. The room, however, was empty. An open window and a fire escape suggested the method by which the eminent banker had made his get-away, and the fact that the bed had not been slept in and that there was no sign of disorder in the room, showed that he had gone hours before the detective’s arrival. By the side of the bed there was a telephone, and Parr called the exchange. “Can you find if any message came through to this number during the night?” he asked. “I am Inspector Parr, of police head-quarters.” “Two,” was the reply. “I put them through myself. One from Bayswater----” “That was mine,” said the Inspector. “What was the other?” “From the Western Exchange--at 2.30.” “Thank you,” said the inspector grimly, and hung up the telephone. He looked at his companions and rubbed his big nose irritably. “Thalia Drummond is going to get another job,” he said. Chapter XIX. Thalia Accepts an Offer It took over a week to settle the preliminaries of Brabazon’s insolvency, and at the end of that time, Thalia walked from the bank with a week’s salary in her little leather bag, and no immediate prospects of employment. Inspector Parr had not minced his words, which he had addressed to her before an impressed audience. “Only the fact that I saw you come out of Marl’s house and saw him close the door on you, saves you from a serious charge,” he said. “If it had only saved me from a lecture also, I should have been pleased,” said Thalia coolly. “What do you make of her?” asked Parr, as the girl disappeared through the swing doors of the office.