Mr Appleton was there a good deal in the summer time, and was in residence now--had been for the better part of a week.

Scaife could pick up very little information about him, except that he was a decent old fellow, who paid his bills regularly, and was always good for a fiver for a local charity.

Then Scaife seemed to have penetrated to the back door of the house, pretending he was an agent for sewing-machines.

Only three servants were kept, a cook, a parlour-maid, and a housemaid, and they were just the sort that you would find in a respectable middle-class household.

The cook was not the gossiping kind, and had pretty soon shut the door in his face, but Scaife said he was positive she knew nothing.