When Dan left Mrs. Jarsell he was very well pleased with the promise she had given concerning the safety of Lillian. He fully believed that she, in her role of Queen Beelzebub, would keep that promise faithfully, if only because her own interests demanded such honesty. The fact that the confession of Penn was in the hands of a third party, to be made use of should anything happen to Miss Moon, prevented the Society of Flies from carrying out the threat made to him at the secret meeting. To save their own lives, the members would be forced--much against their will no doubt--to spare those of Lillian and himself. Dan chuckled at the way in which he had circumvented the deadly organization. But he had only scotched the snake; he had not killed it, and, until he did so, there was always that chance that it would strike when able to do so with safety. But, while Penn's confession remained in Laurance's hands, all was well. One thing struck Halliday as strange, and that was the persistence with which Mrs. Jarsell kept up the comedy of having-nothing-to-do-with-the-matter during so confidential a conversation. She knew that Penn had been a doubtful member of her gang; she knew that he had been despatched--as Dan truly believed--because he was not to be trusted, and now she knew that he had left a confession behind him, which was in the hands of her enemies. Also, she was aware that the man who spoke to her had read the confession and must have guessed that her name, as Queen Beelzebub, was mentioned therein. This being the case, it is to be presumed that she would speak freely, but, in place of doing so, she had pretended ignorance, and for his own ends he had humored her feigning. Either she doubted that such a confession existed, or she guessed in whose possession it was, and intended to regain it. "Queen Beelzebub knows well enough that Freddy is my best friend," thought Dan, as he returned to the Peacock Hotel, "and it would be reasonable for her to believe that he had Penn's confession, which is certainly the case. I should not be at all surprised if Freddy was inveigled into a trap as I was, so that he might be forced to surrender the document or rather what remains of it. If that were managed, Queen Beelzebub would revenge herself on Lillian and on me, since there would be nothing left to shield us from her spite. And, in any case, Freddy is in danger, as I am certain she guesses that he holds the confession," he mused for a few moments, and then added, aloud, "I shall return to town at once and see him."