Meanwhile the two men were sitting opposite one another in Mr. Cass's room. Geoffrey refused to have any dinner; he had dined before leaving home, he said, but he did not decline a cigar and glass of good port. Mr. Cass was at once convinced, from the expression of tragic gravity on the young man's face, that he had something serious to say, and he concluded that it had to do with the Jenner case. But he was not going to commit himself by introducing the subject lest he might appear too eager. He talked lightly on desultory matters and waited for Heron to begin. "Mr. Cass," he said, at last, "I have come to renew our former conversation." "Oh, the Jenner murder, I suppose?" Mr. Cass said, lightly. "I thought as much; but I did not know that you intended to pursue the matter." "Nor did I of my own free will," replied Geoffrey, coolly; "but circumstances have thrust upon me fresh discoveries, and I want your assistance." Mr. Cass looked up sharply, and replied with studied carelessness: "Of course I will do my best to help you, my dear fellow; but really I do not see how I can." "You will soon see when I have told you of my discovery," was the grim answer. "About those links, you know----" The merchant started and changed colour. "Ah!" he said. "Ruth told you?" "Some time ago; but what she did not tell me, and what you did not reveal, Mr. Cass, was that you were the owner of those links." "How can you be certain on that point?" asked Mr. Cass, calmly. "What have you found out to make you think that they--at any rate the broken one Ruth got under the window of the Turnpike House--have anything to do with me? "I will tell you," he said, leaning forward and looking very directly at his host. "You gave a portion of one of those links to your granddaughter Mildred for her doll. I found the child crying because Ruth had taken what she called a 'brooch' from her. At first I did not connect it with the one Ruth had found, but when she described it I guessed that it was part of the set; to make certain I shewed her the one her aunt had picked up, and she recognised it at once as the double of her brooch, with the difference in the design, of course. You did not tell me of this, Mr. Cass. "Why should I have told you?" Mr. Cass's tone was slightly defiant. "I did give such a link to Mildred, and it was one of a set." "Have you the set?" asked Heron. "Forgive my asking you, but I have a good reason for doing so." "I know what your reason is," replied the merchant, raising his voice; "but you are wrong; I did not drop that link at the Turnpike House--I did not murder Jenner!" "Nothing was further from my mind," protested the young man. "You jump to conclusions; my meaning was quite different." The expression on Mr. Cass's face was one half of relief, half of uneasiness. "What do you mean, then?" he demanded. "I have a right to know."