"But those large imitation pearls blinded you to everything else, I see," Mr. Merritt remarked, with a smile. "I suppose so," I acknowledged; "they and the sleeve-links with the crest." "Ah, those are really interesting, and for the first time in my life I find myself wishing that we were more careful in this country about the use of such things. Unfortunately, we are so promiscuous and casual in adopting any coat-of-arms that happens to strike our fancy that the links become almost valueless as a clue. Still, I have sent one of them to an authority in heraldry, and shall be much interested to hear what he has to say about it. By the way, did anything else strike you as peculiar about the corpse?" "No," I answered, after a moment's reflection. "It did not seem to you odd that no hat was found with the body?" "Dear me! I never noticed that. How singular! What could have become of it?" "Ah, if we only knew that we should be in a fair way to solving this mystery. For I have found out that, whereas the description of Miss Derwent's visitor and Mrs. Atkins's friend tally on all other points, they differ radically on this one. The former wore a panama, whereas the latter wore an ordinary straw hat. Now, one of those hats must be somewhere in the Rosemere, and yet I can't find it." "Mr. Merritt," I inquired, "have you any theory as to the motive of this murder?" "Not as yet," he replied. "It may have been jealousy, revenge, or a desire to be rid of a dangerous enemy, and if you had not given it as your opinion that the man met his death while wholly or semi-unconscious, I should have added self-defence to my list of possibilities. The only thing I am pretty sure of is--that the motive was not robbery." "Look here, Mr. Merritt, I can't help wondering that, whereas you have treated Miss Derwent with the utmost suspicion, have made a thorough search of her apartment, and have even sent a sleuth to watch her, yet you have shown such indifference to Mrs. Atkins's movements. Surely suspicion points quite as strongly to her as to the young lady?" "No, it doesn't," replied the detective. "The key! You forget the key cannot so far be connected with her. But, may I ask, who told you that I had neglected to make inquiries about the lady?" "Nobody; I only inferred," I stammered. "You were wrong," continued Mr. Merritt. "I have made every possible inquiry about Mrs. Atkins. I have even sent a man to Chicago to find out further particulars, although I have already collected a good deal of interesting information about the little lady's past life." "Really? And was there anything peculiar about it?"