“Friends of yours at Harkings asked me to warn you ...” began Bruce awkwardly. “My friends are scarcely in the majority there,” retorted Robin. “Whom do you mean exactly?” But the boy ignored the question. “Three men watching the house!” he exclaimed; “don’t you think that _this_ looks as though Manderton meant business?” He returned to his post of observation at the curtain. Robin laughed cynically. “Manderton doesn’t worry me any,” he said cheerfully. “The man’s the victim of an _idée fixe_. He believes Parrish killed himself just as firmly as he believes that I frightened or bullied Parrish into doing it ...” “Don’t be too sure about that, Robin,” said the boy, dropping the curtain and coming back to Robin’s chair. “He may want you to think that. But how can we tell how much he knows?” Robin flicked the ash off his cigarette disdainfully. “These promoted policemen make me tired,” he said. Bruce Wright shook his head quickly with a little gesture of exasperation. “You don’t understand,” he said. “There’s fresh evidence ...” Robin Greve looked up with real interest in his eyes. His bantering manner had vanished. “You’ve got that letter?” he asked eagerly. Bruce shook his head. “No, not that,” he said. Then leaning forward he added in a low voice: “Have you ever heard of the Maxim silencer?” “I believe I have, vaguely,” replied Robin. “Isn’t it something to do with a motor engine?” “No,” said Bruce. “It’s an extraordinary invention which absolutely suppresses the noise of the discharge of a gun.” Robin shot a quick glance at the speaker. “Go on,” he said. “It’s a marvelous thing, really,” the boy continued, warming to his theme. “A man at Havre had one when I was at the base there, during the war. It’s a little cup-shaped steel fitting that goes over the barrel. You can fire a rifle fitted with one of these silencers in a small room and it makes no more noise than a fairly loud sneeze ...” “Ah!” Robin was listening intently now. “Parrish had a Maxim silencer,” Bruce went on impressively. “_Parrish_ had?” “It was fitted on his automatic pistol, the one he had in his hand when they found him ...” “There was no attachment of any kind on the gun Parrish was holding when he was discovered yesterday afternoon,” declared Robin positively; “I can vouch for that. I was there almost immediately after they found him. And if there had been anything of the kind Horace Trevert would certainly have mentioned it ...” “I know. Jay, who came in soon after you, was surprised to see that the silencer was not on the pistol. And he made a point of looking for it ...” “But how do you know that Parrish had it on the pistol?...” “Well, we don’t know for certain. But we do know that it was permanently fitted to his automatic. Jay has often seen it. And if Parrish did remove it, he didn’t leave it lying around any where. Jay has looked all through his things without finding it ...” “When did Jay see it last?” “On Thursday!”