Inspector Derrick called to see Fane with rather a downcast expression of countenance. The meaning of this was explained in his conversation. "I've done my best, sir, and there's nothing to be discovered." "You mean as regards the murder of this woman Brand?" asked Walter. "What else would I mean!" replied Derrick dismally. "I have no call to see you about anything else, sir!" "The two men were seated in the morning-room where Mrs. Fane had conversed with Laura. Walter, seated near the window, did not look well. There were dark circles under his pale eyes, which hinted at sleepless nights. Also there was a smell of ether in the room as though he had been taking drugs. Derrick delicately ascribed his looks to the fact of the unpleasant occurrence which had taken place in the house. "I suppose you've come to think it haunted, sir?" he suggested. "No, I don't like the idea of living in a house in which a murder has been committed. But I don't believe in the supernatural. For the sake of my wife and child I am giving up the villa, and we intend to live abroad for a time. But I should like the mystery solved, and the assassin of that poor woman brought to justice before I go." "Derrick shook his head. It's not to be done, sir." "Suppose I offer a reward?" "Not even then, Mr. Fane. I can't find a single clue. When I discovered that white room in the Hampstead house, I thought something would come of it. But the assassin was clever enough to go there and remove all evidence of the past life of Mrs. Brand--books, papers, photographs, and those sort of things. It is true I found a photograph of the dead woman, but we knew her looks already. Now had it been a portrait of the husband----" "Ah! Do you suspect the husband?" "Yes and no," replied Derrick thoughtfully. "Certainly I learned that the man went to Australia some time before the death. I found his name in a passenger-list of an Orient liner." "Then he can have nothing to do with the crime." "Well, I don't know. A man may start for another country to make things safe for himself, and then can come back secretly. Besides, if it was not the husband who removed the things, how did he enter the cottage? and why should he make such a point of destroying his own photographs had he no aim?" "I can't guess. But it is equally mysterious how the woman managed to enter this house." "Yes. I can't learn anything about the key being duplicated. Yet it must have been, seeing we have the second key which was dropped by the man who talked to Mulligan." "Have you found him?" "No; nor am I likely to. I tell you, Mr. Fane, the case is hopeless. I believe Mr. Calvert, who came in for the money, has placed the matter in the hands of a private inquiry-agent called Jasher. But if I can't learn the truth, Jasher can't." "Is he a clever man?"