way. He was quite satisfied with the security of his disguise, for the woman who knew him well had not recognised him at all. If his own janitress did not know him, the people in the Thorne house would never imagine it was he.     

       And indeed Muller was entirely changed. In actuality small and thin, with sparse brown hair and smooth shaven face, he was now an inch or two taller and very much stouter. He wore thick curly blond hair, a little pointed blond beard and moustache. His eyes were hidden by heavy-rimmed spectacles.     

       It was just half-past five when he rang the bell at the entrance gate to the Thorne property. He had spent the intervening time in the cafe, as he was in no hurry to enter the house. Franz came down the path and opened the door. “‘What do you want?” he asked.     

       “I come from Siemens & Halske; I was to ask whether the other man—”      

       “Has been here already?” interrupted Franz, adding in an irritated tone,       “No, he hasn’t been here at all.”      

       “Well, I guess he didn’t get through at the other place in time. I’ll see what the trouble is,” said the stranger, whom Franz naturally supposed to be the electrician, he opened the gate and asked the other to come in, leading him into the house. Under a cloudy sky the day was fading rapidly. Muller knew that it would not occur to the real electrician to begin any work as late as this, and that he was perfectly safe in the examination he wanted to make.     

       “Well, what’s the trouble here? Why did you write to our firm?” asked the supposed electrician.     

       “The wires must cross somewhere, or there’s something wrong with the bells. When the housekeeper touches the button in her room to ring for the cook or the upstairs girl, the bell rings in Mr. Thorne’s room. It starts ringing and it keeps up with a deuce of a noise. Fortunately the family are away.”      

       “Well, we’ll fix it all right for you. First of all I want to look at the button in the housekeeper’s room.”      

       “I’ll take you up there,” said Franz.     

       They walked through the wide corridor, then turned into a shorter, darker hall and went 

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