"Close to the end, were they?" "Very close, sir. Just as you reckoned. They'd have been in before morning. The floor of the strong-room was just beginning to show in places, and they had the soup all ready and waiting. We nabbed them just in time." Here the sound of a woman's smothered screams and of men's curses became dimly audible. Mr. Naylor jerked his thumb backward over his shoulder in the direction from which they came. "That will be them now," he said. "They are bringing the lot up." "Get down and stop them, then," said Cleek. "All these good people will not care to see an exhibition of that sort now that it has taken a tragic turn. Hold them there for another ten minutes. Don't bring even Weston up. The sight would not be a pleasant one for the duke." Here Mr. Narkom, waiting only for Naylor to take his departure, chose to deliver a dig at his friend. "I notice," he said in an undertone, "that for all your fine scorn of dukes you are taking devilish good care of this one." "Excellent, my friend! Your powers of observation are improving. Notice anything else as well?" "Yes. You are conducting this affair somewhat off your usual lines, and instead of being bowled over with astonishment by your revelations, this particular duke doesn't seem surprised at anything." "He isn't. I told him everything beforehand. Doctor Forsyth advised it; his heart is weak. Any more questions, please?" "Yes, one. In the name of Heaven, what did you cut up that fainting caper for last night?" "Come over to the cottage door. Look there. See that thing in the corner? By the sofa there--with the quilt half over it?" "Mean the box with the wire netting over the front?" "Exactly. That's what I did it for. I wanted to see if there was such a thing here. It was necessary to get down on the floor to see it, and there it was." "But what on earth----?" Mr. Narkom did not bother to complete the sentence. It would have been useless. Cleek had walked away and left him--going back to the place where the duke and the others were standing. "I think, Duke, it will be as well to return to the vicarage," he said, "and leave the rest of this unpleasant business to the law alone. I am sorry, gentlemen, that I have put you all to the useless trouble of coming out here. I should not have done so had I known or even guessed of Carstairs' act. Still, it doesn't matter. You know the result; you know the game. The robbery of the gold service has been prevented, the criminals unmasked, and--that's all. I think we may be satisfied that the riddle has been solved."