to the police. It is part of his faith not to. He will either invent some all-enfolding lie that tells nothing whatsoever, or else he will not say a word." "But he must have struck her with something," said Lady. "Suppose they should find that, father. He'd have to tell them to save himself." I slipped my hand into my pocket. "I don't think they will find it," said I, and showed the thing above the table. Lady shuddered, and I quickly returned it to my pocket.[Pg 132] [Pg 132] "Just what you would expect," said Mr. Tabor, "and if you had left it, I am afraid Carucci would have had some difficulty in explaining things. A marlinespike, isn't it? Poor Sheila was really very fortunate that he didn't stab her with the sharp end. A stab would have been more in his line—the beast. As it is, I don't believe the police will ever find out any of the truth of the matter." "Well, even if they do," said I, "it won't do any great amount of harm. They might arrest me for speeding, but that would be about all. No one in his senses would be likely to accuse us of murder." "My good young man," Mr. Tabor answered, "they absolutely mustn't dream that we had any hand in it at all. They mustn't even hear of us. And neither must anybody else." Lady sighed wearily. "I'm sure that it will be all right, father," she said. "The chauffeur will be quiet for the sake of his own character," I added. "He's as anxious to avoid any connection with it as we are. And as for me, sir, you may be sure that nothing shall leak out through any indiscretion of mine." Mr. Tabor pushed aside his finger-bowl. "I understand that, Mr. Crosby—and I appreciate how[Pg 133] uncomfortable it must be for you to act in the dark. Believe me, I regret very much the necessity for it, and appreciate your generosity." [Pg 133] Lady was looking at us, and I colored. "I'm very much at your service, Mr. Tabor," I said. "You may perhaps wonder what this Italian has to do with us at all. That, at least, I can tell you. He was a sailor on one of my ships in years past, and when the girls were—" He paused. "When Lady was a little girl, you understand, we took quite a voyage for Mrs. Tabor's health. Sheila was Lady's nurse—and a very
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