THE ROBBERY IN PHILLIMORE TERRACE Whether Miss Polly Burton really did expect to see the man in the corner that Saturday afternoon, 'twere difficult to say; certain it is that when she found her way to the table close by the window and realized that he was not there, she felt conscious of an overwhelming sense of disappointment.

And yet during the whole of the week she had, with more pride than wisdom, avoided this particular A.B.C.

shop.
"I thought you would not keep away very long," said a quiet voice close to her ear.
She nearly lost her balance--where in the world had he come from?
She certainly had not heard the slightest sound, and yet there he sat, in the corner, like a veritable Jack-in-the-box, his mild blue eyes staring apologetically at her, his nervous fingers toying with the inevitable bit of string.
The waitress brought him his glass of milk and a cheese-cake.

He ate it in silence, while his piece of string lay idly beside him on the table.
When he had finished he fumbled in his capacious pockets, and drew out the inevitable pocket-book.
Placing a small photograph before the girl, he said quietly: "That is the back of the houses in Phillimore Terrace, which overlook Adam and Eve Mews." She looked at the photograph, then at him, with a kindly look of indulgent expectancy.
"You will notice that the row of back gardens have each an exit into the mews.

These mews are built in the shape of a capital F.The photograph is taken looking straight down the short horizontal line, which ends, as you see, in a _cul-de-sac_.