"It was like hers whom our Lord said to, 'Woman, doth any man accuse thee?'--white as paper, and no mistake! Don't tell _me_!... And so I walks straight across to Mrs. Barrett, and 'Jane,' I says, 'this must stop, and stop at once; we are commanded to avoid evil,' I says, 'and it must come to an end now; let him get help elsewhere.' "And she says to me, 'John,' she says, 'it's four-and-sixpence a week'--them was her words. "'Jane,' I says, 'if it was forty-six thousand pounds it should stop'... and from that day to this she hasn't set foot inside that gate." There was a short silence: then, "Did Mrs. Barrett ever..._ see_ anythink, like?" somebody vaguely inquired. Barrett turned austerely on the speaker. "What Mrs. Barrett saw and Mrs. Barrett didn't see shall not pass these lips; even as it is written, keep thy tongue from speaking evil," he said. Another man spoke. "He was pretty near canned up in the _Waggon and Horses_ that night, weren't he, Jim?" "Yes, 'e 'adn't 'alf copped it...." "Not standing treat much, neither; he was in the bar, all on his own...." "So 'e was; we talked about it...." The fat, scared-eyed man made another attempt. "She got the key off of me--she 'ad the number of it--she come into my shop of a Tuesday evening...." Nobody heeded him. "Shut your heads," a heavy labourer commented gruffly, "she hasn't been found yet. 'Ere's the inspectors; we shall know more in a bit." Two inspectors had come up and were talking to the constables who guarded the gate. The little fat man ran eagerly forward, saying that she had bought the key of him. "I remember the number, because of it's being three one's and three three's--111333!" he exclaimed excitedly. An inspector put him aside. "Nobody's been in?" he asked of one of the constables. "No, sir." "Then you, Brackley, come with us; you, Smith, keep the gate. There's a squad on its way." The two inspectors and the constable passed down the alley and entered the house. They mounted the wide carved staircase. "This don't look as if he'd been out much lately," one of the inspectors muttered as he kicked aside a litter of dead leaves and paper that lay outside Oleron's door. "I don't think we need knock--break a pane, Brackley." The door had two glazed panels; there was a sound of shattered glass; and Brackley put his hand through the hole his elbow had made and drew back the latch. "Faugh!"... choked one of the inspectors as they entered. "Let some light and air in, quick. It stinks like a hearse--" The assembly out in the square saw the red blinds go up and the windows of the old house flung open. "That's better," said one of the inspectors, putting his head out of a window and drawing a deep breath.... "That seems to be the bedroom in there; will you go in, Simms, while I go over the rest?..."