"No," he said. "None of that! We're going to have no running away, no hiding! Andie Lauriston's not going to show the least fear of the police, or of any of their theories. He's just going to follow my orders--and I'm going to take him to my hotel for the night--leave him to me! I'm going to see this thing right through to the finish--however it ends. Now, let's separate. Mr. Guyler!" "Sir?" answered the American. "At your service." "Then meet me at my hotel tomorrow morning at ten," said Purdie. "There's a new chapter to open." CHAPTER TWENTY THE PARSLETT AFFAIR At a quarter past ten o'clock on the morning following Ayscough's revelation to Zillah, the detective was closeted with a man from the Criminal Investigation Department at New Scotland Yard in a private room at the local police station, and with them was the superior official who had been fetched to the pawnshop in Praed Street immediately after the discovery of Daniel Multenius's body by Andie Lauriston. And this official was stating his view of the case to the two detectives--conscious that neither agreed with him. "You can't get over the similarity of the markings of those rings!" he said confidently. "To my mind the whole thing's as plain as a pikestaff--the young fellow was hard up--he confessed he hadn't a penny on him!--he went in there, found the shop empty, saw those rings, grabbed a couple, was interrupted by the old man--and finished him off by scragging him! That's my opinion! And I advise getting a warrant for him and getting on with the work--all the rest of this business belongs to something else." Ayscough silently glanced at the man from New Scotland Yard--who shook his head in a decided negative. "That's not my opinion!" he said with decision. "And it's not the opinion of the people at headquarters. We were at this affair nearly all yesterday afternoon with that little Jew fellow, Rubinstein, and the young Scotch gentleman, Mr. Purdie, and our conclusion is that there's something of a big sort behind old Multenius's death. There's a regular web of mystery! The old man's death--that book, which Levendale did not leave in the 'bus, in spite of all he says, and of his advertisements!--Levendale's unexplained disappearance--the strange death of this man Parslett--the mystery of those platinum studs dropped in the pawnbroker's parlour and in Mrs. Goldmark's eating house--no!--the whole affair's a highly complicated one. That's my view of it." "And mine," said Ayscough. He looked at the unbelieving official, and turned away from him to glance out of the window into the street. "May I never!" he suddenly exclaimed. "There's young Lauriston coming here, and Purdie with him--and a fellow who looks like an American. I should say Lauriston's got proof about his title to those rings--anyway, he seems to have no fear about showing himself here--case of walking straight into the lions' den, eh?"