"I suppose the gray car was still rankling in my mind.

From this moment I start afresh.

At any rate, the man who brought me from the theater might check my recollection of the time." Winter nodded.

He was evidently pleased that Theydon was inclined to share his view of the difficulties Scotland Yard encountered in its fight against malefactors.
"Did you see or meet any one in particular while your car approached these mansions, or when you ascended the stairs ?" "No," said Theydon.
He perceived intuitively that if the detectives found the driver of the taxi which brought him from the theater it was possible the man might have noticed Forbes, who had certainly been scrutinized a few minutes later by a policeman, so he hastened to add: "You said 'any one in particular.' I did see a tall, well-dressed gentleman at the corner of the street, but there is nothing remarkable in that." "Which way was he heading ?" "In this direction." "Then it is conceivable that he might be the man who called on Mrs.
Lester ?" "Yes." "Aren't you pretty sure he was the man ?" Theydon permitted himself to look astonished.
"I ?" he said.

"How can I be sure?
If you mean that, judging from the interval of time between my seeing him at the corner and the sound of footsteps on the stairs, followed by the opening of the door at No.