"If I need you I'll ring," repeated Torry, and pointed towards the door. The butler was obliged to go, and withdrew with manifest unwillingness. Torry saw him descend the stairs, and locked the outer door of the chambers, after which he returned to Leighbourne, who watched this conduct with ill-concealed nervousness. "Why do you send Meek away?" he asked with some hesitation. "Because I wish to speak to you privately," replied Torry promptly. "You are not open with me Mr. Leighbourne." "What do you mean?" demanded the young man, flushing. "Is your bank solvent?" asked Torry, in his turn. The other jumped to his feet in a violent rage. "Solvent!" he cried, "of course it is solvent. How dare you hint that anything is wrong with our business." "I hint," replied Torry, "because I wish to know the reason Mr. Grent intended to run off to South America." "To South America!" repeated Leighbourne, in a stupified tone. "How do you know he thought of going there?" "Because I believe Mr. Grent intended to go to Genoa, and take the first boat to Peru." "Why Peru?" "Oh, that is a fancy of mine," rejoined Torry with a shrug. "Mr. Grent has a Spanish wife; the murder was committed with a Spanish knife; and two tomb images from Peru are mixed up in the matter; therefore I believe that if Mr. Grent chose any place to fly to, he would go to Lima." "But why should he fly?" "This is what I ask you," said the detective coolly. "I am sure you will be able to supply the reason; so to give you time to make up your mind, I'll look for the ticket to Italy." Leaving Leighbourne sitting much astonished in the chair, Torry crossed the room to a writing-table placed directly under the window, so as to get all available light. On this lay many papers tossed about in confusion; and through these Torry looked rapidly, but without finding any ticket to Italy. The middle drawer was not locked, and in this the detective discovered a bunch of keys, one of which fitted all the drawers of the escritoire. Within were letters and bills and memoranda; but none of these did Torry examine very closely, as, at the present moment he was bent on discovering the ticket to Genoa or Naples. All his search proved futile, so he desisted with a lowering race and glanced round the room. Leighbourne, who had been biting his fingers, brightened up at this failure, and sneered. "You see, things are not as you think," he said in a tone of relief. "One moment," returned Torry. "I am not yet at the end of my resources." His keen eye had caught sight of a fur travelling-coat hanging up in a distant corner; and towards this he walked. On purchasing the ticket, he thought, Mr. Grent would probably put it in the breast pocket of his travelling-coat, so as to run no risk of leaving it behind. As he had been disguised on the night of his murder, it was improbable that he would have taken it with him.