"I heard he was in London, and watched him. I saw him go to your chambers and guessed what was up, so I came down here to see you and tell you what I know." "Out of pure good-nature?" "You can believe it or not, Mr. Brett. It is the truth." "He has been tried and acquitted. He cannot be tried again. Does Scotland Yard--" "I'm on my holidays." Brett laughed heartily. "I see!" he cried. "A 'bus-driver's holiday! For how long?" "Fourteen days." "You are nothing if not professional. I suppose it was not your first offence, or they might have let you off with a fine." The detective enjoyed this departmental joke. He grinned broadly. "Anyhow, Mr. Brett," he said, "you and I have been engaged on too many smart bits of work for me to stand quietly by and let you be made a fool of." The barrister came nearer, and said, in a low tone: "Winter, you have never been more mistaken in your life. Now, attend to my words. If you help me you will, in the first place, be well paid for your services. Secondly, you will be able to place your hand on the true murderer of Sir Alan Hume-Frazer, or I will score my first failure. Thirdly, Scotland Yard will give you another holiday, and I can secure you some shooting in Scotland. What say you?" The detective looked thoughtful. Long experience had taught him not to argue with Brett when the latter was in earnest. "I will do anything in my power," he said, "but there is more in this business than perhaps you are aware of--more than ever transpired at the Assizes." "Quite so, and a good deal that has transpired since. Now. Winter, don't argue, there's a good fellow. Go and engage the landlord of the local inn in a discussion on crops. I am off to Beechcroft Hall. Mr. Hume and I will call for you on our way back to Stowmarket. In our private sitting-room at the hotel there I will explain everything." They parted. Brett was promptly admitted by Mrs. Crowe, and walked rapidly up the avenue. Winter watched his retreating figure. "He's smart, I know he's smart," mused the detective. "But he doesn't know everything about this affair. He doesn't know, I'll be bound, that David Hume-Frazer waited for his cousin that night outside the library. I didn't know it--worse luck!--until after he was acquitted. And he doesn't know that Miss Nellie Layton didn't reach home until 1.30 a.m., though she left the ball at 12.15, and her house is, so to speak, a minute's walk distant. And she was in a carriage. Oh, there's more in this case than meets the eye! I can't say which would please me most, to find out the real murderer, if Hume didn't do it, or prove Mr. Brett to be in the wrong!" CHAPTER VII HUSBAND AND WIFE Brett did not hurry on his way to the Hall. Already things were in a whirl, and the confusion was so great that he was momentarily unable to map out a definite line of action.