Arnold one day received a note from Luther Tracey asking him to call at Fairy Lodge, Coleridge Lane, Hampstead. Wondering what the American was doing in that house, Calvert lost no time in obeying the summons. He knew Tracey very slightly, having only met him when paying a visit to the Baldwins, when Laura was stopping there. But he was aware that Tracey was a smart man, and long-headed. It struck Calvert as possible that Laura might have consulted with the American about the matter of the murder, and that this invitation might be the outcome of a consultation between them. And it was creditable to Calvert's sagacity that this is precisely what had happened. On arriving at Fairy Lodge, Arnold saw the engineer in the garden with his inevitable cigarette in his mouth. "Well, I guess you're a smart chap," said Tracey, shaking hands heartily. "You don't let the grass grow under your feet like the majority of these English. No!" "I think curiosity brings me up so quickly," said Arnold as they strolled up to the door. "I was wondering what you were doing in this galley." "All in good time, sir," replied the imperturbable Luther. "Just slide your eye round the ranch before you go in. Not a bad shanty? No; I surmise that poor woman was death on flowers, and hadn't the dollars to start an orchid-house." "She was poor," said Arnold, a trifle sadly. "Her husband did not allow her much money, she told me; but perhaps he didn't make much." "Well, a drummer in our land generally can rake in the dollars. Did you ever see this Brand?" "No," replied Calvert emphatically, "I never did." Luther looked sideways out of the corner of his eye, and saw that the colour was rising in the young man's face. "Know something about him, maybe. Yes?" "I know very little," answered Arnold coldly. "Only what Mrs. Brand told me, and she was rather reserved on the subject. Brand, as I learned from her, was a commercial traveller." "What line did he travel in?" "I don't know; I never asked. But his business took him away a great deal, and my cousin was left a lot to herself." "Any children?" "None. They had been married five or six years, I believe. The fact is," he added, "Mrs. Brand did not speak very kindly of her husband. She seemed to think he was keeping something from her." Luther pitched away his cigarette and lighted another. "Well, now, I guess that's my idea right along. There's a mystery about Brand, and not a very straight one, seeing he couldn't tell the woman he swore to love, honour, and obey. There ain't nothing about leaving for long periods in the marriage service, I reckon. And it's strange he's not turned up, seeing she's murdered." "Well," said Arnold slowly, and following the American into the room, "I believe Brand went to Australia to see if he was related to the man who left Flora this fortune."