"What a precious pair," groaned Hugh. He had long been doubtful of them, but he had never anticipated this. "Now, Captain Murchison, there is a little question I want to ask you," said the detective briskly, after a brief pause. "My pal and I only arrived here yesterday, but we have not been idle, we have picked up a good deal. We have discovered that nobody in Blankfield visits them, except yourself and another officer, a Mr Pomfret. That is true, is it not?" "Quite true," assented Murchison. "You frequently go to their house together. But perhaps I may be telling you something you don't know when I say that Mr Pomfret more frequently has gone alone." "I have had my suspicions some time," was Hugh's answer. "Now tell me, please; I suppose in the evenings you played cards, or roulette, or some game of chance. I thought so. Did you lose much? Had you any suspicions they were rooking you?" "On my first visit, a suspicion that they might do so crossed my mind. But nothing of the sort was attempted. I should say that, up to the present, my friend and I stand a bit to the good. Evidently, that was not their object." "Clearly," assented the shrewd detective, "they had a deeper game than that on. They wanted to catch this young friend of yours for a husband, and failing that, to entrap him, so that they could blackmail him on the threat of a breach of promise case." "It looks as if that was their object." "Now, Captain Murchison, may I ask you if your friend is a man likely to fall into the trap? I saw him in the High Street this afternoon with you: and if I may say so without offence, he doesn't give me the impression of a very strong or self-reliant person." Hugh shook his head. "I fear he is very weak, very impulsive, very emotional, a ready prey for a designing woman." "Have you any idea how far the thing has gone?" To this question Hugh could only reply in the negative. His one hope was that the foolish boy had seen her so often that there was no necessity to write incriminating letters. "Well, Captain Murchison, my object in asking you to grant me an interview was two-fold. In the first place, I wanted to know if there had been any card-sharping. Then, as I am aware you go to the house, I wished to tell you that I and my friend are going to take him to-night. It might happen that you would be going there, and of course, you will not want to be on the stage when we play our little comedy." "We have promised to go to dinner to-night. She asked us both when we met her this afternoon." "And of course now, you will not go. I will take him before dinner-time, so you need not send round any excuses." Poor Hugh felt very miserable. What he especially shirked was having to tell this sordid narrative to Pomfret. He expressed to the detective his shrinking from the unwelcome task.