“No, my dear sir, you asked if anyone of the name of Jane Finn had been there.  Now, if the girl had been placed there it would almost certainly be under an assumed name.”

“Bully for you,” cried Julius.  “I never thought of that!”

“It was fairly obvious,” said the other.

“Perhaps the doctor’s in it too,” suggested Tuppence.

Julius shook his head.

“I don’t think so.  I took to him at once.  No, I’m pretty sure Dr. Hall’s all right.”

“Hall, did you say?” asked Sir James.  “That is curious—­really very curious.”

“Why?” demanded Tuppence.

“Because I happened to meet him this morning.  I’ve known him slightly on and off for some years, and this morning I ran across him in the street.  Staying at the Metropole, he told me.”  He turned to Julius.  “Didn’t he tell you he was coming up to town?”

Julius shook his head.

“Curious,” mused Sir James.  “You did not mention his name this afternoon, or I would have suggested your going to him for further information with my card as introduction.”

“I guess I’m a mutt,” said Julius with unusual humility.  “I ought to have thought of the false name stunt.”

“How could you think of anything after falling out of that tree?” cried Tuppence.  “I’m sure anyone else would have been killed right off.”

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now, anyway,” said Julius.  “We’ve got Mrs. Vandemeyer on a string, and that’s all we need.”

“Yes,” said Tuppence, but there was a lack of assurance in her voice.

A silence settled down over the party.  Little by little the magic of the night began to gain a hold on them.  There were sudden creaks of the furniture, imperceptible rustlings in the curtains.  Suddenly Tuppence sprang up with a cry.

“I can’t help it.  I know Mr. Brown’s somewhere in the flat!  I can feel him.”

“Sure, Tuppence, how could he be?  This door’s open into the hall.  No one could have come in by the front door without our seeing and hearing him.”

“I can’t help it.  I feel he’s here!”

She looked appealingly at Sir James, who replied gravely: 

“With due deference to your feelings, Miss Tuppence (and mine as well for that matter), I do not see how it is humanly possible for anyone to be in the flat without our knowledge.”

The girl was a little comforted by his wards.

“Sitting up at night is always rather jumpy,” she confessed.

“Yes,” said Sir James.  “We are in the condition of people holding a seance.  Perhaps if a medium were present we might get some marvellous results.”

“Do you believe in spiritualism?” asked Tuppence, opening her eyes wide.

The lawyer shrugged his shoulders.

“There is some truth in it, without a doubt.  But most of the testimony would not pass muster in the witness-box.”