"Yes, he carried a hand-bag. He had that bag in his hand when I met him on deck; he kept it on his knee in the boat, and in the cab in which we drove to the hotel from the landing-stage; I saw him carrying it upstairs after we got to the hotel. What is more, I saw him bring it into the coffee-room later on, and place it on the table at which he had some supper. I saw it again in his room when I went in there to look at the plans of the Norwegian estate which he had told me about. He didn't take those plans out of that hand-bag; he took them out of a side flap-pocket in a suit-case." "Did you have supper with him that night?" "No--I was sitting at another table, talking to a lady who had been with us on the _Perisco_. A lot of _Perisco_ passengers--twenty, at least--had come to the hotel by that time." "Did any of them join Mr. James Allerdyke--at his table, I mean?" "I don't remember--no, I think not. He sat at a table, one end of which adjoined the wall--he put the hand-bag at that end. I remember wondering why he carried his bag about with him. But then I, of course, was carrying what I believed to be my jewel-case." "Did you see him talking to any of your fellow-passengers that night?" "Oh, yes--to two or three of them--in the hall of the hotel. I didn't know who they were, particularly--except the doctor with the big beard. I saw him talking to Mr. Allerdyke at the door of the smoking-room." "Had you taken any special notice of your fellow passengers on board the _Perisco_?" "No--not at all. They were just the usual sort of passengers--I wasn't interested in them. Of course, I talked to some of them, in the ordinary way, as one does talk on board ship. But I don't remember anything particular about them, nor any of their names, even if I ever knew their names. Of course I remember Mr. James Allerdyke's name, because of the business talk." The chief, who had been making shorthand notes of this conversation, paused for a moment, evidently considering matters, and then turned to Celia with a smile. "Why did you leave the hotel at Hull so suddenly?" he asked. "I daresay you had good reasons, but I should just like to know what they were, if you don't mind." "I'd no reason at all," replied Celia, with almost blunt directness. "At least, if I had, they were only a woman's reasons. I was a bit upset at being left alone. I didn't like the hotel. I knew I shouldn't sleep. It was a most beautiful moonlight night, and I suddenly thought I'd like to go motoring. I knew enough of the geography of those parts to know if I motored across country I should strike the Great Northern main line somewhere and catch a train to Edinburgh in the early morning. So--I just cleared out."