The Rayner-Slade Amalgamation

iamonds, small though they were. He deduced two ideas from these facts-one, that the owner was a woman who loved pretty and expensive th

d it come to be lying there in James Allerdyke's room? How long had it been lying there? Had its owner been into that ro

t question could easily be settled by finding out how long that particular room had been unoccupied before James was put into it. A much more important question was-had the owner of the buckle been in the room between nine o'clock of the previous evening and five o'clock that morning? Out of that, again, rose certain s

nd floor of the hotel, the manager cam

" he announced, handin

come

and as he unfolded the message, caught

to-day and I will meet you, highly important we

a sheaf of telegraph forms towards him. But it was not easy to compose the message which he wished to send. He knew nothing of the man to whom he must address it, nothing of his business relations with James; he had no clear notion of wha

llaway, Waldorf

Circumstances somewhat mysterious. Investigation proceeding. Have found on body your telegram to him of April 21.

ALLERDYKE, Stat

trains, and Allerdyke hastened back to the office to look over the register-he was anxious to know who and what the folk were who had been near and about his cousin in his last hours. But a mere glance at the big pages showed him t

he muttered. "Still-which are the peopl

of entries, amongst which Allerdyke at once noticed the name

ter, changed her mind about staying, and set off in a motor-car abo

an entry, made in a big, dashin

ed. "Miss Celia L

llerdyke's room-Number 263! T

o how she could get North-to Edinburgh. That would be about eleven o'clock. I told her she couldn't get a train until mo

driven to some station on the Great Northern main line-I met her on the road at two-thirty.

," answered the clerk. "The car

nd the sum total of what they could tell amounted, for all practical purposes, to next to nothing. James Allerdyke had come to the hotel just as several other people had come. He had been served with a light supper in the coffee-room; he had been seen chatti

round of these inquiries, glanced at him with

the police to be summoned," he sugg

ve to say, and, besides that, I want to get some news from London. It's a queer business altogether, and if there has been any foul play, why"-he paused and looked round at the people who were

-why, the criminal or criminals may already be off or going off now, amongst these people,

only suggest expert help from the police-but this time he added to his suggestion the remark th

present we must wait. But-in any way you can-keep your eyes open. There's one thing you can do-there was a lady in here last night who took Room 265 and left it at midnight to go

soon as I've found her," responded the manager

nine o'clock," said All

inquiry to ma

d her midnight car, with instructions to find the chauffeur who had driven her, and to get

yke, "but pump him for any news he can giv

t to seek the bed from which he had been pulled at one o'clock in the morning. He had taken the lady to York-only to find that there was n

rture from the hotel was due to a genuine desire to reach her ultimate destination as speedily as possible. While Allerdyke was wondering if it wo

telegram before Allerdyke, "has just sent me this. I th

he manager, and had been dispatched from York rai

to search for diamond sh

t night. If found send b

Bedford Court M

tell the manager that the missing property was in his possession. Finally he determined to k

of that sort will soon

about sending that cha

ater. I'm goin

ken away by the doctors while the hotel routine went on in its usual fashion. It seemed odd, strange, almost weird, to think that any one of these people,

itten down in his pocket-book. And now arose the big (and, in view of what had happened, the most important and serious) question-how had Miss Celia Lennar

to arise and to demand attention at once. Before he had finished br

ll arrive Hull two o'clock. In meantime keep strict guard on your cousin's e

ry little reflection made Allerdyke come to the conclusion that all these vague references and hints bore relation to the possible transaction mentioned in the various telegrams already exchanged

llaway. The second came first. At ten minutes past two a bustling, quick-mannered American strode into Marshall Allerdyke's private sit

sir! Are