The minister wiped the perspiration from his forehead and drew a long breath. Chard could see that the man's nerves were shattered, and that he was suffering from severe mental excitement and physical prostration. "How long have you been ill?" asked the inspector, suddenly. "I am not ill; I am worried." "Oh!" There was a world of meaning in Chard's ejaculation. "Then how long have you been so worried?" "I don't know." "Shall we say a month?" By this time the minister was beginning to see that there was something strange in the officer's attitude. "Why a month?" he asked, as a new fear filled him. "The body we found has been lying in the field for quite a month." "Man!" cried Johnson, with a wild stare, "you don't mean to infer that I killed her?" "I--I infer nothing, sir. I am here to procure information--to ask questions, not to answer them. This dead woman was your ward. She left you, as I understand, a month ago, and has not been heard of since. To-day we find her dead body in a cornfield belonging to Mr. Carwell. It is my duty to learn how she came there--how she came to be strangled." "Strangled! Was she strangled?" "Yes," said Chard, dryly; "she was strangled, and her body was hidden in the thick of the standing corn. A very clever method of concealment. I don't think I ever heard of a cornfield being used for such a purpose before. Moreover," and Mr. Inspector leaned forward, "the body has been robbed." "Robbed!" "Yes--the pearls, you know." "The pearls?" repeated Johnson, vacantly. "Oh yes, the pearls. But what are they--what is anything compared with her death? Oh! I loved her, how I loved her! And she is dead!" He leaned his head on his hands and wept. Chard was becoming a trifle impatient. The man was in such a state of mental excitement and physical debility, that it seemed unlikely he would prove of much use--at present, at all events. Still, he was the person of all others from whom details regarding the past life of the dead girl could best be learned; and in her past life might be found a motive sufficiently strong to lead to some clue. Ever prepared for emergencies, Chard produced a flask of brandy from his pocket, and pouring a little of it into a cup, handed it to Johnson. As the odour of the spirit struck his nostrils, the minister recoiled with a look of disgust. "I am an abstainer," said he, waving it away. "That may be," rejoined Chard, imperturbably; "but you are all broken up and weak now. 'A little wine for the stomach's sake,' as St. Paul says. You can hardly go against St. Paul, sir. Drink it," he added, sharply. "I insist upon your drinking it." "You have no right to speak to me in that way, Mr. Chard." "I have the right of a Jack-in-office," retorted the inspector. "I wish to learn all about this woman. You can supply the information I require, though at present you are hardly fit to do so. Drink the brandy, I say, and pull yourself together."