"Murdered, poor fellow, in my opinion," continued John Purvis. "And I'll tell you why I think so. About November 8th or 9th--I can't be sure to a day--I got a telegram from Stephen, sent off from Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands, saying he'd be at Plymouth on the 15th, and asking me to meet him there. So I went to Plymouth on the morning of the 15th. His boat, the _Golconda_, came in at night, and we went to an hotel together and stopped the night there. We hadn't met for some years, and of course he'd a great deal to tell--but he'd one thing in particular--he'd struck such a piece of luck as he'd never had in his life before!--and he hadn't been one of the unlucky ones, either!" "What was this particular piece of luck?" asked Mr. Killick. John Purvis looked round as if to make sure of general attention. "He'd come into possession, through a fortunate bit of trading, up country in South Africa, of one of the finest diamonds ever discovered!" he answered. "I know nothing about such things, but he said it was an orange-yellow diamond that would weigh at least a hundred and twenty carats when cut, and was worth, as far as he could reckon, some eighty to ninety thousand pounds. Anyway, that was what he'd calculated he was going to get for it here in London--and what he wanted to see me about, in addition to telling me of his luck, was that he wanted to buy a real nice bit of property in Devonshire, and settle down in the old country. But--I'm afraid his luck's turned to a poor end! Gentlemen!--I'm certain my brother's been murdered for that diamond!" The police officials, as with one consent, glanced at Mr. Killick, and by their looks seemed to invite his assistance. The old gentleman nodded and turned to the caller. "Now, Mr. Purvis," he said, "just let me ask you a few questions. Did your brother tell you that this diamond was his own, sole property?" "He did, sir!" answered the farmer. "He said it was all his own." "Did he tell you where it was--what he had done with it?" "Yes! He said that for some years he'd traded in small parcels of such things with two men here in London--Multenius and Levendale--he knew both of them. He'd sent the diamond on in advance to Multenius, by ordinary registered post, rather than run the risk of carrying it himself." "I gather from that last remark that your brother had let some other person or persons know that he possessed this stone?" said Mr. Killick. "Did he mention that? It's of importance." "He mentioned no names--but he did say that one or two knew of his luck, and he'd an idea that he'd been watched in Cape Town, and followed on the _Golconda_," replied John Purvis. "He laughed about that, and said he wasn't such a fool as to carry a thing like that on him." "Did he say if he knew for a fact that the diamond was delivered to Multenius?" asked Mr. Killick.