"I--I have nothing to say. I have rather something to ask." "What is that?" "Why did Miss Hargone send Julia to meet Grent in her mantle?" "She did not. The mantle she gave to the girl as a wedding gift." "Strange that she should give it to her on the very day of the murder." "Not at all. It seems to me Mr. Torry, that you suspect Miss Hargone of complicity in this crime?" "I fancy she knows something about it." "Then permit me to tell you, sir, that she does not. That old scamp of a Grent tried to make love to her, and she repulsed him. Why, then, should she have agreed to go away with him, and leave me, to whom she was engaged--and is engaged," finished Blake. "Oh!" said Torry sarcastically, "you have no money." "What of that. Grent was ruined by speculation when he died. He had no money." "I beg your pardon; he had ten thousand pounds!" "The money of the society; you can't prove that he had it!" "I hope to do so soon," retorted Torry, nettled by the sneer. Blake rose to his feet, and put on his hat. "I shall argue no more," he said wrathfully. "You believe that the lady, who is to be my wife, is connected with these crimes; so, to me, they become a personal matter. I wanted to assist in finding the assassin out of sheer idleness; now I intend to discover the truth, in order to clear the character of Miss Hargone." "I hope you will be successful," murmured Darrel. "Certainly I shall be successful," retorted Blake, pausing at the door. "I am convinced that the Blue Mummy Society killed these two wretched people: and, I tell you, Manuel is the criminal. When you see me again, Mr. Torry, I shall bring you such proofs of his guilt that even you will be convinced. In the meantime, I wish you every success; but I warn you that you are working on wrong lines. Leave off suspecting ladies who are innocent, and devote yourself, as I intend to do, to hunting down the iniquitous Association of the Mummy. Then you will learn the truth. Good-day!"--and, finishing thus abruptly, Blake put on his hat, and took himself off, leaving Torry and Darrel looking at each other in some doubt. "There is a good deal of sense in what he says," remarked Darrel. "After all, the Blue Mummy is the main clue." "Clue or not," said Torry, "I know that Manuel is innocent." "How do you know that?" "Because the ten thousand pounds has been brought back." "You don't say so!" cried Frank, greatly surprised. "Well, fact does beat fiction in realising impossibilities. The same bank notes brought back. Well, well! it is most extraordinary." "Not the same bank notes," corrected Torry, cautiously. "The same amount of money, but the numbers of the notes are different. Whosoever stole the notes has changed them all, and returned others. But, you see, Manuel cannot have killed Grent for the sake of that money; as, in that case, he would not restore his plunder. He is innocent, as I said before." "Then who is guilty?"