Gordon Link, the detective charged with the conduct of the case, confessed as much to Denzil.
"I do not see the slightest chance of tracing Berwin's past," said he to the barrister.

"We are as ignorant about him as we are of the name of the assassin." "Are you sure there is no clue, Mr.Link ?" "Absolutely none; even the weapon with which the crime was committed cannot be found." "You have searched the house ?" "Every inch of it, and with the result that I have found nothing.

The surroundings of the case are most mysterious.

If we do not identify the dead we cannot hope to trace the murderer.

How the wretch got into the house is more than I can discover." "It is strange," admitted Lucian thoughtfully, "yet in some secret way people were in the habit of entering the house, and Berwin knew as much; not only that, but he protected them from curiosity by denying that they even existed." "I don't quite follow you, Mr.Denzil." "I allude to the shadows on the blind, which I saw myself a week before the murder took place.