"Yes," he replied, knocking the ash from his cigar, "I have had certain suspicions aroused, Holford--vague suspicions of something wrong in the Professor's household. Antonio is absent, the servants have all been paid and dispersed, the house in Sussex place is closed, and--" "And the Professor is a fugitive, fleeing towards Hungary," I added. "Has not Miss Ethelwynn told you anything?" "What she has told me has been in complete confidence. It has caused me a great deal of surprise and apprehension, Holford, and this surprise has been increased by what you have told me this evening--that your wife has been enticed away, and is missing." "But what connection can my wife possibly have with any occurrence at the house of Professor Greer?" I demanded. "She was in ignorance of everything. She was not even acquainted with Greer. I might tell you that to-day I have been down to Broadstairs and seen Miss Ethelwynn," I added. "Ethelwynn did not seem to remember ever having met you when I told her of our encounter at the door, and the subsequent events." "I am a friend of the Professor's, not of his daughter," I hastened to explain. "But are you absolutely certain that a journey to Strassburg to-morrow would be useless?" "Absolutely. If Greer consented to see his friends I would be the first to see him." "And he has refused even you, eh?" I asked, smiling within myself at the superior knowledge I possessed. "He has. He refuses, too, to allow his daughter to go to him." "But why?" I asked. "For reasons known, I suppose, to himself." "Does he give none?" "He vaguely answers that certain matters concerning a great scientific discovery he has made compel him at present to hold aloof from both family and friends. He fears, I think, that someone who has discovered his secret may betray it." "But surely Ethelwynn would not?" I cried. "I desire to see the Professor because I feel confident he can, if he will, explain the motive of the trap into which my wife has fallen." "If he refuses to see his own daughter he will hardly see you," remarked the dark-faced doctor. "Under exactly what circumstances has Mrs. Holford disappeared?" I briefly explained, at the same time regarding the round-shouldered specialist with some antagonism. To me, it appeared as though he were erecting an invisible barrier between myself and the knowledge of the truth. He seemed entirely Langton's friend, corroborating his every word. And the more curious became his attitude when at last I remarked with firm and resolute air: "Well, if Professor Greer refuses to see me, then I shall invoke the aid of the police. They will probably very soon discover him, wherever he may be." "I hardly think that would be a wise policy," remarked Flynn, tossing his cigar-end into the fire, and rising quickly from his chair, "unless, of course, you could make some direct charge against him." I was silent for a moment.