"You have," he said, leaning against the big, old-fashioned mahogany table piled with books and scientific periodicals. "But until the present I have been unable to satisfy you. Even now I am still in a great measure in the dark as to the--well, the unfortunate occurrence, shall we call it?--which took place in this house." "But you have, I understand, been acting in concert with the man who calls himself Greer?" I remarked. "You've been with him abroad!" "I don't deny that. Why should I?" I shrugged my shoulders impatiently. His evasion was always cunning, always well-contrived. "When you first brought me here," I said, "it was to obtain my assistance to discover who killed Professor Greer, and--" "And you made a promise which you did not keep!" he interrupted. "Hence I have been unable to keep faith with you. Is not that quite feasible?" "My wife's disappearance is the point which most concerns me," I said. "The other matter is, to me, of secondary importance. If you cared to divulge, you could tell me my wife's whereabouts. I happen to know that she has been in Vienna, staying at the Hotel Continental, and she has been seen in your company, Mr. Kirk." "Now that's really quite smart of you!" he laughed, with a patronising air, his grey face changing slightly, I thought. "I wonder how you came to know that?" "The source of my information does not matter," I said sharply. "Suffice it that it is a reliable one." "Well," he laughed, "since that evening when you sat with me in Bedford Park I've been compelled to be active, and I've discovered quite a number of things which at that time I never dreamed--facts that have amazed me, as they will, before long, amaze you, Holford." "Nothing can amaze me in this crooked affair," I declared. "You sought my aid in an endeavour to discover who killed Professor Greer, yet, having gained my confidence, you at once abused it!" I cried, with bitter reproach. "That is your present opinion," he said, with a keen, crafty look. "An opinion based upon your actions towards me!" I exclaimed hotly. "My dear Holford," he said, "now let us speak quite frankly, as man to man." And he bent towards me in an eager attitude. "I put it to you whether, in the circumstances--not overlooking the fact that Scotland Yard has refused you assistance--to forget what you saw that night upstairs in the laboratory, to place it aside as though you never witnessed it, is not the best plan?" "Ah, you wish still to hush up the tragedy!" I cried. "The reason is, of course, quite obvious." "You misinterpret my words. I wish to avoid bringing scandal upon innocent folk," Kirk replied quickly. "You once gave me a pledge of secrecy, and you broke it. Will you give me another?" "And if I gave it," I asked, not without some hesitation, "would these precious friends of yours give me back my wife?" "I cannot answer for others. Personally, I will do all I can to assist you," was his somewhat evasive reply.