Thank you!" as her brimming eyes uplifted in deep thankfulness and her shaking hand returned the pressure of his.

"Now, just give me five minutes' time in the next room--it's my laboratory, Lady Chepstow--and I'll tell you whether I shall begin with Captain Hawksley or eliminate him from the case entirely.

You might go in ahead, Mr.Narkom, and get the acid bath and the powder ready for me.

We'll see what the finger-prints of our gentle correspondent have to tell, and, if they are not in the records of Scotland Yard or down in my own private little book, we'll get a sample of Captain Hawksley's in the morning." Then, excusing himself to the ladies, he passed into the inner room in company with Narkom, and carried the letter with him.

When he returned it was still in his hand, but there were greyish smudges all over it.
"There's not a finger-print in the lot that is worth anything as a means of identification, Miss Lorne," he said.