"When the patient escaped, he had bare feet. He takes a very small size in shoes, probably four or five. A kitchen knife is missing and the patient may be armed. Boot-makers should be warned...." "Bare feet!" Tarling rose from the table with a frown on his face. "Sam Stay hated Odette Rider." The two men exchanged glances. "Now, do you see who killed Mrs. Rider?" asked Tarling. "She was killed by one who saw Odette Rider go into the house, and did not see her come out; who went in after her to avenge, as he thought, his dead patron. He killed this unhappy woman--the initials on the knife, M.C.A., stand for Middlesex County Asylum, and he brought the knife with him--and discovered his mistake; then, having searched for a pair of shoes to cover his bleeding feet, and having failed to get into the house by any other way, made a circuit of the building, looking for Odette Rider and seeking an entrance at every window." Whiteside looked at him in astonishment. "It's a pity you've got money," he said admiringly. "When you retire from this business there'll be a great detective lost." CHAPTER XXXI SAM STAY TURNS UP "I have seen you somewhere before, ain't I?" The stout clergyman in the immaculate white collar beamed benevolently at the questioner and shook his head with a gentle smile. "No, my dear friend, I do not think I have ever seen you before." It was a little man, shabbily dressed, and looking ill. His face was drawn and lined; he had not shaved for days, and the thin, black stubble of hair gave him a sinister look. The clergyman had just walked out of Temple Gardens and was at the end of Villiers Street leading up to the Strand, when he was accosted. He was a happy-looking clergyman, and something of a student, too, if the stout and serious volume under his arm had any significance. "I've seen you before," said the little man, "I've dreamt about you." "If you'll excuse me," said the clergyman, "I am afraid I cannot stay. I have an important engagement." "Hold hard," said the little man, in so fierce a tone that the other stopped. "I tell you I've dreamt about you. I've seen you dancing with four black devils with no clothes on, and you were all fat and ugly." He lowered his voice and was speaking in a fierce earnest monotone, as though he was reciting some lesson he had been taught. The clergyman took a pace back in alarm. "Now, my good man," he said severely, "you ought not to stop gentlemen in the street and talk that kind of nonsense. I have never met you before in my life. My name is the Reverend Josiah Jennings."