“Hi, Ry, come back a minute!” called Inez, but the slamming of the front door told her that he was gone. The girl smiled happily, almost for the first time since the trouble had begun; it really seemed as if Ryland was making an effort at last—and at least she had destroyed the old false relationship between them, whatever might come of the new. Leaving the morning-room, Inez walked across the hall to the little room on the other side of the study. She knocked at the door and, in response to Mangane’s answer, opened it and walked in. The secretary’s face brightened as he saw her. He sprang to his feet and offered her the small arm-chair beside her table. “I don’t believe I’ve been in here before, Mr. Mangane,” said Inez—“not since you came. Mr. Dune always had the window shut—I couldn’t face it—I did come in once to ask him about something—it was awful.” Mangane laughed. “I can promise you fresh air, Miss Fratten—and a welcome. As I face north, the only sunshine will be what you bring yourself—that’s terribly old-fashioned and stilted, isn’t it? But the door does face south, so even the gloomy Golpin brightens the room a bit when he comes in.” “What you want are some flowers; how rotten of me not to have thought of it before. I’m so sorry.” Inez whisked out of the room and returned in a minute with two vases of chrysanthemums—yellow and russet—from her own sitting-room. Mangane almost blushed with pleasure and stammered his thanks. “Now, Mr. Mangane,” said Inez, “I want your help. I believe Inspector Poole has asked you about it already—I told him to. It’s about those papers that father was fussing over every night just before he died. Do you know what they were?” “The Victory Finance Company, I expect you mean. Yes, Poole did ask about them; he’s got them now.” Inez’s face brightened. “Has he? Then that means that he’s following up that line!” “Not necessarily, I’m afraid, Miss Fratten. He took all the Company papers he found in your father’s table, and the Bank papers, and his private accounts. The Victory Finance just happened to be among them; he didn’t seem specially interested in them.” Inez’s face fell. Then her air of determination returned. “Then we must follow it ourselves,” she said. “Can we get those papers back?” “I expect so; he said he’d bring them back in a day or two. We shall have to get Mr. Hessel’s leave.”