She laid her hands suddenly upon his shoulders. He took them gently in his. "My dear Miss Rowan, I am doing everything that man can do. Believe me that I am. I only wish that your brother had done as he threatened, and walked into the river, before he came to me." She went away at last. Deane lay back in his chair, feeling absolutely unfit for work. Twice he laid his hand upon the telephone, and twice he withdrew it. Then he turned to his secretary, who had just entered the room. "Get Mr. Hardaway upon the telephone," he directed. "I want to speak to him." In a few moments the bell of the instrument by his side tinkled. He put the receiver to his ear. "Is that Hardaway?" he asked. "Yes!" was the answer. "This is Stirling Deane. You remember the subject of our conversation the other night at the theatre? I am referring now to the matter of documents of which you spoke." "I remember," Hardaway answered. "In whose possession are those documents at the present moment?" Deane asked. "In whose possession," Hardaway repeated. "Do you mean--" "I mean have they been sent to Scotland Yard, or are they still in that locked-up room at the Universal Hotel?" There was a moment's pause. Then Hardaway answered. "To the best of my belief," he said, "they are still in the room at the hotel. They may be removed to Scotland Yard at any time, though." "No one has yet claimed Sinclair's effects, then?" asked Deane. "No one," was the answer. Deane was on the point of ringing off, but Hardaway suddenly put a question to him. "Shall you be in your office for ten minutes, Mr. Deane?" "For longer than that," Deane answered. "I am coming around," the lawyer said. "I hope you can spare me a moment." Deane set down the telephone with a frown. Perhaps his question had been a clumsy one, or was Hardaway already suspicious? He welcomed the lawyer, when he arrived, a little coldly. "Five minutes, please," he said. "I have a large mail to go through, and an early dinner-party to-night." The lawyer nodded. "I don't want to detain you, Deane," he said. "Send your secretary away for a moment, there's a good fellow. What I have to say can be said in half-a-dozen words if we are alone." Deane pointed to the door. "One moment, if you please, Ellison," he said. "Get everything ready for me that you can." The two men were alone. Hardaway, who had not taken a seat, deliberately drew off his glove, and tapped the table with his fingertips. "Deane," he said, "have you any idea of paying a visit to the Universal Hotel?" Deane met him on his own ground, coolly, and with perfect self-possession. "I have not made up my mind," he said. "It might be worth it." "It wouldn't," the lawyer said. "There's nothing haphazard about the way these things are conducted. There's a detective watching Number 27, day and night." "It occurred to me," Deane remarked, "that as there is no mystery about this affair, Scotland Yard would not have thought that necessary."