To this natural request Darrel assented at once, and narrated his Saturday night, or rather Sunday morning, adventure in Drury-lane. The detective listened in silence, his keen eyes fixed on the narrator, and when Darrel ceased he put a series of questions to him, noting the replies to the same in a little book. It may be here remarked that Mr. Torry used a cypher known to no one but himself; so, even if he lost his pocket-book, there was no chance of its contents becoming known. "You say that this man spoke like an educated gentleman?" "Certainly; his accent was most refined." "At what time did he address you first?" "Shortly after twelve o'clock." "How long did it take you to walk to Mortality-lane?" "Ten minutes, more or less, I should think. Altogether it was twenty minutes past midnight when he left me." "The drive to throw you off the scent took some time, I suppose?" Darrel calculated. "About forty minutes, more or less," he said. "We got back to Mortality-lane shortly after the clock struck one. Then I had some talk with the cabman who had misled me, according to instructions, and I remember him saying he was going home, because it was after one o'clock." "Then the murder must have been committed between half-past twelve and one o'clock in the morning?" "Yes, I am sure it was. Bike and myself found the corpse shortly after one o'clock. It was still warm," said Darrel, with a shudder. "The red-haired man was not at his ease with you, I suppose?" "On the contrary, he kept a safe distance between us, and all the time he had his right hand in the breast of his coat." "Oh, that was a revolver," said Torry indifferently, "we found it when the body was searched. But," added the detective with emphasis, "we did not find the valuables he carried." "Valuables! What valuables?" "I can't say. Papers, or jewels, or money; one of the three, I am certain!" "But what reason have you to think that he carried valuables?" asked Darrel becoming the questioner in his turn. Torry shrugged his plump shoulders. "He wouldn't have carried a revolver else," he remarked. "That might have been to protect himself against bad characters, such as he suspected me to be," objected Frank captiously. "No," replied Torry decisively, "I don't think so. He purposely assumed shabby clothes so that there would be nothing in his appearance to suggest that he was worth robbing. A threadbare vagrant slinking through the midnight streets, would attract no notice save that of a policeman, and he would not dare to use his revolver in that case." "Why not?" asked Darrel rather obtusely.