"No," said the Major with a shudder. "I merely said that I could not learn how Markham was killed and she refused to marry me. I did not care about speaking of the adventure. You know how the fan came into Miss Wharf's possession Mr. Rodgers?" "Yes," the detective nodded, "Mr. Burgh told me, but I'll have another talk with him. Humph. It seems to me that one of these Chinamen killed Miss Wharf, and that the tie was used to lay the blame on Mr. Ainsleigh here." "Well," said Ainsleigh drawing a breath, "I am glad to hear that you don't suspect me, but I can't think that Tung-yu stole the tie, even though he did see me place it in the coat." "I'll look after that cloak-room attendant," said Rodgers, making another note, "and he'll have to give an account of himself. But I don't see what this private god Kwang-ho has to do with the matter." "I can only tell you this," said Major Tidman, "I had a cold last night and stopped in my room. But I heard that Tung-yu was down the stairs, and, as I knew him in Canton, I went to have a look for him. He was a pleasant companion in Canton." "Did you tell him about the fan and your adventure?" "No, Ainsleigh, and I was annoyed that you should have let slip that I had such an adventure. I don't want to be mixed up in the matter. Tung-yu is nice enough, but if he has to do with the fan he is quite capable of turning nasty and making things unpleasant for me. But I mentioned about his advertisement, and how I came to know of it through you. He confessed that Lo-Keong had lost the fan and wished it back again, as it had to do with some family business. The finding of it was referred to the god Kwang-ho, and the priest of the god, said that two men were to search for the fan." "Hwei and Tung-yu." "Yes. They were to search on alternate days. If Hwei found it he was to kill the person from whom he got it. If it was Tung-yu's day he was to give the fortunate person five thousand pounds." "And whose day was it on the night of the crime?" "Hwei's," said the Major, "that was why Tung-yu could not buy the fan when Miss Wharf offered it to him." CHAPTER XII AT THE INQUEST When Mr. Orlando Rodgers of the C.I.D. rolled into the Superintendent's office the next day to relate what he had heard, he was not so glib as usual. After sleeping on the extraordinary tale he had heard from Major Tidman, and considering the fragments imparted by Clarence Burgh, and young Ainsleigh, he came to look on the matter as something to do with the Arabian Nights. The fan which the deceased lady had carried at the ball was certainly gone, and the whole of these marvellous matters connected with China, hung on the fan. But Miss Wharf may have been murdered for some other reason, and Rodgers was half inclined, when looking into the case in the cold searching morning light, to abandon the fan theory. But he delayed doing this until he had consulted with Superintendant Young, who looked after the Marport police.