"No," I responded to the officer's inquiry. "I was so bent upon giving information that I forgot to place any mark upon the house by which to know it again." "Well, I've 'eard a good many funny stories while I've been on night-duty in these eighteen years, but your yarn is about the rummest of the lot," he said bluntly. "I only know that the house is a large one, very well furnished, and has a portico and railings in front--a double house, with hall in the centre, and rooms on either side." "That don't 'elp us very much, sonny," the voice observed. "What's the good o' running after me with a yarn like this if you can't take me to the spot? To judge from the state of your clothes, though, you've been in some scrap or another. If your coat was not covered with blood as it is, I'd be inclined to put you down as a chap with a screw loose." "I'm not demented, I tell you," I cried warmly. "There's a terrible crime been committed, and I have sought your assistance." "And I'd go and have a look at the premises with you, if you could only tell me where they are. But as you can't--well, what are we to do, sonny?" CHAPTER FOUR. THE WOMAN. "Take me at once to the police-station," I said firmly. "I must make a statement to your inspector on duty." "Not much good, is it, if you can't tell us where the affair took place?" queried the man, impertinently. "It is my duty to make the report, and the duty of the police to investigate it," I answered, annoyed, for it seemed as though he doubted me. "That's a nasty cut on your hand," he remarked. "How did you get it?" "I cut it myself by accident with the knife." "What knife?" "The knife with which the murders were committed." "And what were you doing with it?" inquired the constable, utterly regardless of the strict police regulation which forbids an officer to put any such questions. "I found it," I replied. "Where?" "On the floor of the room, while I was searching about." The man grunted dubiously. I was well aware of the suspicion which must fall upon me, for I knew there was blood upon my clothes, and that my story possessed a distinct air of improbability. "Who injured your head like that?" he asked. In response, I told him how, in crossing a road, I had been knocked down and rendered insensible by a cab, and how, on regaining consciousness, I had found myself under the care of some woman unknown. He gave vent to a short harsh laugh, as though discrediting my statements. "You don't believe me," I blurted forth hastily. "Take me to your inspector. We must lose no time." "Well, you know," observed the man, "your story, you'll admit, is a very extraordinary one. You say that a terrible affair has happened in a house somewhere about here, yet you can't direct us to it. The whole story is so curious that I'm afraid you'll have a difficulty in persuading anybody to believe you." "If you don't, somebody else will," I snapped. "Come, take me to the police-station."