His immediate thought was that he had never met a more forbidding personality. Hard, angry eyes, that shot forth their baleful fire at the slightest provocation, a long hawk nose, a cruel, sensual mouth, were the salient features of a face that instinctively gave you the impression of evil. His greeting was in accord with his appearance. "Explain at once, if you please, the reason of this extraordinary intrusion. I see you come from Scotland Yard. What the devil have I to do with such a place?" Johnson did not allow himself to be disturbed by the other's rough and insolent manner. "I have brought you a message from my chief, Mr Smeaton," he said, in his most urbane manner. "I have no doubt you have heard of him." Lord Wrenwyck looked on the point of indulging in another angry explosion, but something in the steady gaze of the self-possessed young man seemed to momentarily disconcert him. He only growled, and muttered something too low for Johnson to catch. "My chief, Mr Smeaton, occupies a very special position," resumed the imperturbable detective. "In virtue of that position, he becomes acquainted with many curious facts, some of them connected with persons in high positions. Some of these facts he has to make known, in accordance with his sense of public duty. There are others which never go beyond his own cognisance and that of a few of his trusted subordinates. I trust your lordship gathers my meaning, which I am trying to convey as pleasantly as possible." Lord Wrenwyck stirred his crippled limbs, and shook his fist vindictively at the other. "Come to the point, curse you, and spare me all this rigmarole." "To come to the point, my lord, Mr Smeaton requests your attendance at Scotland Yard, where he proposes to give himself the pleasure of a short conversation with you." The hard, angry eyes were now sullen and overcast, but they were no longer defiant. "Suppose I tell you and your precious Mr Smeaton to go to the devil! What then?" "I don't think either of us will hasten our journey in that direction on account of your lordship's intervention," replied Johnson with ready humour. He paused a moment, and then added with a gravity that could not be mistaken: "The arm of the law is very long, and can reach a great nobleman like yourself. Take my advice. Lord Wrenwyck. Let me convey you in a taxi to Scotland Yard, to interview my chief. Come voluntarily while you can," he paused and added in significant terms: "Believe me, you won't have the option after to-day." Cursing and growling, the crippled peer stood up, and announced his readiness to accompany this imperturbable young man. A few minutes later, he and Smeaton were face to face. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ On the evening of that day, Sheila and Wingate dined together at a small restaurant far removed from the haunts of the fashionable world.