“You are obliged to answer the questions I put to you,” said Mr. Queriton sharply. The lawyer slowly nodded his head. “In that case,” he said, “the answer is in the negative.” “What? They would not have divided it? Why not?” “The whole—or practically the whole—would have gone to Miss Inez Fratten. Mr. Ryland Fratten is not Sir Garth Fratten’s son.” CHAPTER XI The Intervention of Inez As the room cleared, at the adjournment of the Inquest, Chief Inspector Barrod turned to his subordinate. “There you are, Poole,” he said. “I’ve given you a start on that young fellow. You stick to it now and don’t leave go till you’ve got him. You’ll have to keep him shadowed now.” “Very well, sir, I’ve arranged to go round and see him at his house this evening—I’ll go into that girl question then. If you’ll excuse me, sir, I just want to catch Mr. Menticle to get a bit more out of him about this parentage business.” “Yes, you’ll want that. I slipped a line to the Coroner not to press it too far in Court; we’ve done enough for the moment, as far as the public’s concerned.” The Inspector caught Mr. Menticle before he had left the precincts of the Yard and the latter invited him to walk down the Embankment with him towards the City. “All in my way,” he said, “and a minute’s tram run back for you. I always walk down this bit of the Embankment on an autumn evening if I can—one of the loveliest views I know—London at its best.” “Yes, sir; I wonder how many of us would have realized that if it hadn’t been for Whistler.” They walked on for a minute or so in silence. “You want me to amplify about Sir Garth and Mr. Ryland,” said the lawyer. “I do, sir, but in the first place I’d like to know why you didn’t tell me when I came to see you on Friday,” said the detective dryly. “You didn’t ask me, Inspector,” replied Mr. Menticle with a chuckle, “and yet I told you no lies. If you could review our conversation now you would find that I never referred to them as father and son—always as Sir Garth and Mr. Ryland.” “I see, sir. I suppose you had some object. It seems a pity.” “I still hoped that there was nothing behind your inquiries—that you would drop the case.” “It makes it harder than ever for us to drop a case, sir, when we find that information is being withheld from us,” said Poole quietly.