"Yes, there has certainly been foul play here as well as in the other room," said John Brancker, after a brief examination of the strong room. "In the first place, the twelve hundred pounds are gone which Mr. Hazeldine fetched from London yesterday, and I have no doubt that there were cash and notes to the amount of three or four thousand pounds in the safe, which also seem to be missing. The exact sum I cannot, of course, tell till I have examined the books. Of this safe Mr. Hazeldine himself always kept the key. The other safes in the cellar are under my charge. I must at once send a telegram to Mr. Avison, who is staying for a few days in Paris on his way home." "That's an ugly bruise, Mr. Brancker, just above your left eye," said the chief constable, gazing straight into the other's face. "Yes; it is the result of a little accident last night," answered John, indifferently. "A woman flung a stone at me. I suppose I shall be disfigured for a few days; but it might have been worse." "If you will step this way for a moment, there is something I should like to ask you about," said Mace, and with that he led the way to the inner office, Dr. Barton and Sweet bringing up the rear. Mace unlocked the door and they all went in. "Can you explain how those marks came there?" asked the constable, pointing to the stains on the floor. "Good gracious, no!" cried John with a start. "I know no more about them than you do"--which was precisely the remark Sweet had given utterance to. "And there are more marks outside my drawer! What can it all mean?" "It may, perhaps, be as well to open the drawer, if you have the key about you." John produced his bunch of keys at once. "This is the one," he said, handing the bunch to Mace. "Perhaps you had better open the drawer yourself." The constable took the key and opened the drawer. The books and papers were marked here and there with drops of blood. John stared as he had never stared before. "Someone has been here to a certainty," he said. "The books and papers have been disturbed, and as for those stains----" He was too agitated to say more. "And yet the lock does not seem to have been tampered with," said Mace, with his keen eyes again fixed on John's face. "It's all a mystery, and I can throw no light on it whatever," answered the latter. "Can you call to mind the last occasion of your having to open the drawer?" "It was when I put my papers away last evening before leaving; that would be sometime between eight and nine o'clock." "Then you did not open the drawer when you came back to the Bank at half-past ten?" "Certainly not. I had no occasion to do so. I did not even light the gas, but searched for and found my umbrella in the dark. I was not more than two minutes in the office." "I shall have to keep this office locked up till the jury have visited it," said Mace. "I have no doubt the Coroner will be able to sit this afternoon."