“I must tell you that the police had allowed it to be freely circulated abroad that they held a clue.  It had been easy enough to ascertain who the lodger was who had rented the furnished room in Russell House.  His name was supposed to be Edward Skinner, and he had taken the room about a fortnight ago, but had gone away ostensibly for two or three days on the very day of Mr. Morton’s mysterious disappearance.  It was on the 20th that Mr. Morton was found, and thirty-six hours later the public were gratified to hear that Mr. Edward Skinner had been traced to London and arrested on the charge of assault upon the person of Mr. Francis Morton and of robbing him of the sum of L10,000.

“Then a further sensation was added to the already bewildering case by the startling announcement that Mr. Francis Morton refused to prosecute.

“Of course, the Treasury took up the case and subpoenaed Mr. Morton as a witness, so that gentleman—­if he wished to hush the matter up, or had been in any way terrorised into a promise of doing so—­gained nothing by his refusal, except an additional amount of curiosity in the public mind and further sensation around the mysterious case.

“It was all this, you see, which had interested me and brought me down to Brighton on March 23rd to see the prisoner Edward Skinner arraigned before the beak.  I must say that he was a very ordinary-looking individual.  Fair, of ruddy complexion, with snub nose and the beginning of a bald place on the top of his head, he, too, looked the embodiment of a prosperous, stodgy ‘City gent.’

“I took a quick survey of the witnesses present, and guessed that the handsome, stylish woman sitting next to Mr. Reginald Pepys, the noted lawyer for the Crown, was Mrs. Morton.

“There was a large crowd in court, and I heard whispered comments among the feminine portion thereof as to the beauty of Mrs. Morton’s gown, the value of her large picture hat, and the magnificence of her diamond rings.

“The police gave all the evidence required with regard to the finding of Mr. Morton in the room at Russell House and also to the arrest of Skinner at the Langham Hotel in London.  It appears that the prisoner seemed completely taken aback at the charge preferred against him, and declared that though he knew Mr. Francis Morton slightly in business he knew nothing as to his private life.

“‘Prisoner stated,’ continued Inspector Buckle, ’that he was not even aware Mr. Morton lived in Brighton, but I have evidence here, which I will place before your Honour, to prove that the prisoner was seen in the company of Mr. Morton at 9.30 o’clock on the morning of the assault.’

“Cross-examined by Mr. Matthew Quiller, the detective-inspector admitted that prisoner merely said that he did not know that Mr. Morton was a resident of Brighton—­he never denied having met him there.

“The witness, or rather witnesses, referred to by the police were two Brighton tradesmen who knew Mr. Morton by sight and had seen him on the morning of the 17th walking with the accused.