"In pursuance of the advice our reporter gave Mrs. Middlemore, she communicated to the police the fact of the disappearance of the body of M. Felix. There the matter rested, and would have been likely to rest but for the initiatory steps we had already taken to throw a light upon the mystery. It is all very well to say that nobody's business is everybody's business; it is not the case. People talked and wrote letters, but we acted. It must be admitted that the police were not in a position to move actively in the affair. No definite charge had been offered for their investigation; no person was accused of a crime; it had not even been proved that a crime had been committed. Conjecture was theirs, and that was all. The law cannot move, cannot act upon conjecture; facts of a crime, or even of a supposed crime, are necessary before the administration of justice can be called upon to adjudicate. Suggestions were thrown out as to the advisability of offering a reward for the discovery of the body, but who was to offer it? Even in the case of a deliberate and ascertained murder where the criminal is at large, the Government is notoriously slow in issuing such a proclamation, and the full weight of public opinion has frequently failed in inducing the authorities to offer a reward. It was not, therefore, to be expected that they would do so in this instance. Meanwhile there was one feature in the case which we desire to emphasize, and of which we never lost sight. Between the hours of twelve and one o'clock on the night of the 16th-17th January a man with a red scarf round his neck was seen to issue from the house in Gerard Street, in which M. Felix resided. The man still remained undiscovered. It matters not who saw him, whether Mrs. Middlemore, or Constables Wigg or Nightingale, or all three together. The fact seemed to be established that he had been in the house for some purpose, and had been seen to issue from it. "Where was that man, and what motive had he for not coming forward?" CHAPTER XII. THE REPORTER OF THE "EVENING MOON" MAKES A DISCOVERY. "On the evening of the 19th our reporter paid a visit to Mrs. Middlemore. Sophy opened the street door for him. "'Hallo, old 'un,' said the girl, 'it's you, is it?' "'Yes, Sophy,' said our reporter, 'here I am again.' "'As large as life,' remarked Sophy, vivaciously, 'and twice as--no, I won't say that; you ain't arf a bad sort. What's yer little game this time, old 'un?' "'Is Mrs. Middlemore in?' asked our reporter. "'Yes, aunt's at 'ome. Do you want to see 'er?' "'That's what I've come for, Sophy.' "'Who's that, Sophy?' cried Mrs. Middlemore, from the bottom of the basement stairs. "'It's the old 'un, aunt,' screamed Sophy. "'Don't be absurd,' said our reporter, pinching Sophy's cheek. 'It is I, Mrs. Middlemore, the reporter from the _Evening Moon_.' "'Come down, sir,' cried Mrs. Middlemore, 'if come you must. Don't stop talking to that 'uzzy.'