A brown beard! Had he shaved and disguised himself before his interview with Tibbie? "Tall?" I asked. "No. Not very." The description did not answer to that of the dead unknown. "A stranger?" "Quite. I'd never seen him before. But the truth is I recollect him because that ruby there is a valuable one. I had my doubts at the moment as to its genuineness, and as there were a lot of people waiting I had no time to examine it. So I lent him only a couple o' quid on it." "Then it's worth more?" "Yes. If you bought the ticket cheap you've got a bargain. The guv'nor here would give you eighty quid for it, and be pleased." I looked at it, and saw that it was a very fine stone. To me it seemed evident that the man who had pawned the watch and ring was not the man who had lost his life in Charlton Wood. "You think he was a gentleman?" "Well, he spoke like one, and seemed very much afraid of being seen. He hesitated when I asked him his name, so I wrote down the usual one-- Green." "And the address?" "I put that in also." So finding I could discover nothing further, I carried away both watch and ring to add to the strange collection of objects which the dead man's pockets had contained. Close to the corner of Park Lane I came face to face with Winsloe, dressed sprucely as usual in silk hat and frock coat, and he at once stopped and offered me his hand. Then, after greeting me, he turned on his heel and walked by my side, saying,-- "I'm just strolling back to the Burlington. I'll come with you." "You left the Scarcliffs earlier than you expected, didn't you?" I remarked. "Yes. I had some business in town," was his brief response. "I see from the papers that they've discovered nothing regarding that affair in Charlton Wood." "No," he remarked in a mechanical tone. "And I don't expect they ever will. The assassin, whoever he was, got away without leaving a trace," and then he cleverly diverted our conversation into a different channel. I feared to discuss it further. The man was Sybil's enemy, and therefore mine. He evidently knew that we had met on that evening of her arrival in London, and was actively at work to trace her. Indeed, when I afterwards reflected, I saw that in all probability he had watched me that morning, and had purposely encountered me. To each other we were outwardly still extremely friendly. Indeed I invited him to my rooms that evening to smoke, and he accepted, for he had a motive in so doing, while I, on my part, had resolved to watch him carefully. I lunched at the Bachelors', and though anxious to go and see Sybil, I was compelled to content myself with sending her a telegram, saying that I had been ordered by my foreman to go up to Manchester in connection with some new linotype machinery, and must therefore be absent two or three days. I sent the message so that she might show it to Mrs Williams.