For the next two days the young man went about in a dream, or rather in a nightmare. He did not dare to see Lillian, or to write to Lillian, lest the members of the Society should believe he was betraying them. They appeared to have spies everywhere, and there was no move on the chessboard which he could make which might not be detected. Yet he could not wait passively for the rest of the thirty days, since he had no idea of joining the band and had only asked for a respite so as to think out some means of escape. More than ever he longed for the return of Laurance. He could trust him, and a consultation between the two might evolve some scheme by which to baffle the subjects of the accursed woman who called herself Queen Beelzebub. Dan wondered if she was Mrs. Jarsell, but the evidence of the perfume seemed too slight a link to join her with this deadly organization. Of course there was Marcus Penn who was a member and knew everything; but he would not speak, since he ran also a risk of death should he betray too much. Still, Dan, being in the same boat and under the same ban, fancied that the secretary might be frank, as his confidence could not be abused. Now, if he could get Penn to state positively that Mrs. Jarsell was Queen Beelzebub, he might have something tangible upon which to work. But, taking into consideration the Egyptian mask, and the alteration of the voice by means of the artificial mouthpiece, Dan believed that she wished to keep her identity secret; always presuming that Queen Beelzebub was the "she" in question. On this assumption Halliday concluded that Penn would not speak out, and bothered himself for hours as to whether it would be worth while to ask the secretary questions. While still in this undecided frame of mind he received a morning visit from Laurance, who turned up unexpectedly. Freddy, in pursuit of his business, played puss-in-the-corner all over the world, coming and going from London in the most unexpected manner. He reminded Dan of this when the young man jumped up with an exclamation at his sudden entrance. "You might have known that I would turn up, anyhow," he said, sitting down, and accepting an offer to have breakfast. "I never know where I shall be on any given date, and you must be always prepared for the unexpected so far as I am concerned. I heard you were looking for me, when I returned last night from Vienna, so I came along to feed with you." Halliday ordered his man to bring in a clean cup, and poured out coffee, after which he heaped Freddy's plate with bacon and kidneys. "There you are, old fellow, eat away and get yourself ready for a long talk. I have heaps to tell you likely to be interesting." "About the murder of Durwin?" questioned Laurance, reaching for toast. "Yes, and about the murder of Sir Charles Moon also. You don't mind my smoking while you eat?" "No. Smoke away! Have you seen _The Moment_ this morning?" "No. Anything interesting in it about your Austrian excursion?"