I expected to find Powers on guard, acting scout, before the door or in the shrubbery, and quickly crossed the road to the Ford. As I went, I looked about for Lacey, but could see him nowhere. Either he had gone back along the road toward Breysgate, to watch for Fillingford's possible approach, or else he had thought he might attract attention if he loitered in the road, and had taken refuge from observation in the shrubberies. I passed quickly along the gravel walk, went up to the hall door, and rang the bell. A moment or two passed. Then Octon himself opened the door. The light of the gas jet over the doorway was full on his face; he was very pale, and drops of perspiration stood on his brow. But when he saw me his face lit up with a sudden relief. "You! Thank God!" he said. "The very man we wanted! Come inside." "Is she here?" "Yes." "She mustn't stay a minute. There's danger." "I know there is," he said grimly. "We found that out from Powers. I've killed him, Austin, or all but. Come into the dining-room." I followed him into the room where I had once waited while he and Jenny talked. As we passed through the hall, I noticed a portmanteau and a bag standing ready packed. In the dining-room Jenny was crouching on the floor beside Powers; she was giving him something to drink out of a wineglass. The man lay there inert. I went up and looked at him, bending down close. There were marks of fingers on his neck; he had been half strangled. [Illustration: _Jenny was crouching on the floor beside Powers_] Jenny had taken no notice when I came in. Now she looked up. "It's all right, he's coming to," she said. "I thought he was gone, though. We made him confess what he'd done, you know. Then he grew insolent, and Leonard--" She turned to Octon with a smile. She seemed to say, "Well, you can guess what Leonard would do under those circumstances!" "You must come away from here," I said in a low urgent voice. "Fillingford may be here at any moment. He went to Breysgate first--but he'll come on here. He knows--and he means to find you." "If he knows, what does it matter whether he finds me or not? And what are we to do with Powers?" "Leave him to me. I'll get him back to his own house." I had it in my mind that I could call Lacey to help me to carry him. While I spoke, she was giving the man another drink. He gurgled in his throat and moved uneasily. She looked up again: "He's doing all right, but--hadn't Leonard better go?" "Nonsense," said Octon. "I'm here to see it through." "No, no," I said hastily. "She's right, you go. This may be a police matter, if he takes it that way--or if Fillingford comes and finds him. If you're here, you may be arrested. Then everything's got to come out! For her sake you ought to go." "You must go, Leonard," said Jenny. She propped Powers's head on a footstool and rose to her feet. "It would be the best thing," said Octon. "It's only to-night instead of to-morrow morning."