A cloud of apprehension had settled upon the house, it seemed. Several others of the party determined, upon one pretence or another, to return home earlier than they had anticipated doing. From this Julius Rohscheimer did nothing to discourage them. A family party was the next to leave, then, consisting of Lord and Lady Vignoles, Mr. J. J. Oppner and Zoe. Mrs. Hohsmann and the Misses Hohsmann followed very shortly. Mrs. Wellington Lacey, with Lady Mary Evershed, departed next, Sir Richard Haredale escorting them. "Half a minute, though, Haredale!" called the host. Haredale, in the hall-way, turned. "I suppose," continued Rohscheimer, half closing his eyes from the bottom upward--"you haven't got any sort of idea how the card trick was done, Haredale? Do you think I ought to let the police know?" "I haven't the slightest idea," was the reply. "In regard to the police, I should most certainly ring them up at once. Good night." Haredale escaped, well aware that Rohscheimer was seeking some excuse to detain him. Even at the risk of offending that weighty financier he was not going to be deprived of the drive, short though it was, with Mary Evershed, with the possibility of a delightful little intimate chat at the end of it. "I endorse what Haredale says," came Sheard's voice. Rohscheimer turned. A footman was assisting the popular Fleet Street man into his overcoat. Mr. Antony Elschild, already equipped, was lighting a cigarette and evidently waiting for Sheard. "What's the name of the man who has the Severac Bablon case in hand?" asked the host. "Chief Inspector Sheffield." "Right-oh!" said Rohscheimer. "I'll give him a ring." Upstairs Sir Leopold Jesson was waiting for a quiet talk with Rohscheimer. "Come into the library," said the latter. "Adeler's finished, so there's no one to interrupt us." The pair entered the luxuriously appointed library, with its rows of morocco-bound, unopened works. Jesson stood before the fire looking down at Rohscheimer, who had spread himself inelegantly in a deep arm-chair, and lay back puffing at the stump of a cigar. "I distrust Sheard!" snapped Jesson suddenly. "Eh," grunted the other. "Pull yourself together! It ain't likely that a man who gets his livin', you might say, by keepin' in with the right people" (he glanced down at his diamond studs) "is goin' to be mixed up with a brigand like Bablon!" "I'm not so sure!" persisted Jesson. "My position is a peculiar one; but I'll go so far as to say that I don't trust him, and I won't go a step farther. I don't expect you," he added, "to quote my opinion to anybody." "I shan't," said Rohscheimer. "It's too damn silly! What would he have to gain? He ain't one of us." "I'll say no more!" declared Jesson. "But keep your eyes open!" "I'll do that!" Rohscheimer assured him. "I suppose you haven't any idea who worked the card trick?" "As to that--yes! I _have_ an idea--but I can only repeat that I'll say no more."