II. The Woman who came through the Window
III. The Conquest of Mrs. Peddar
VII. The Suspicions of Mr. Morley
VIII. The Recognition of the Photograph
IX. The Revelations of “Mr. George Withers”
XI. In the one Room—and the other
XXVI. The Legacy of the Scarlet Hands
I was sure that I had seen Edwin Lawrence juggle with the pack. As Ilay there wide awake in bed it all came back to me. I wondered how Icould have been such an unspeakable idiot. We had dined together atthe Trocadero; then we had gone on to the Empire. The big music hallwas packed with people, the heat was insufferable.
“Let’s get out of this,” suggested Lawrence, almost as soon as we werein. “This crush, in this atmosphere, is not to be borne.” I agreedwith him. We left. “Come into my place for an hour,” he said.
We both lived in Imperial Mansions, on the same floor. His number was64, mine was 79. You went out of his door, along the passage, roundthe corner to the right—the second door on the right was mine. I wentin with him.
“What do you say to a little gamble?” he asked. “It will be betterthan nothing.”
I agreed. We had a little gamble—at first for trivial stakes. I am anabstemious man. I