"Perhaps I ought to tell you that a friend mentioned that he thought he saw Philip."
"Certainly you ought to tell me. The mischief of these cases is that there is always something kept back. Where did he see him?"
"In Liverpool, but he is not certain it was Philip."
"Very stupid of him. How long ago was it?"
"Over a year ago."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, that is all," she said, and bade me good-day.
Before I left my office I wrote an advertisement for the personal columns of the daily papers, to the effect that if Philip Barlow called upon or communicated with me, he would hear of something very much to his advantage. Instructing my clerk to insert the advertisement in three of the principal newspapers, I went to my lodgings and made a change in my appearance, which I deemed prudent, in view of my visit to Madame Lourbet.
That lady was not in her shop when I entered it. In response to a rap on the counter, she issued from an inner room, and asked what I required. There was a glass panel in the door of this room, across which a green curtain was drawn. I have a faculty of observation which enables me to see a great deal at a glance.
While I was making a few small purchases, I entered 'into conversation with her. I said that I had been recommended to her shop, but had some difficulty in finding it, in consequence of the name over the window being altered. She admitted the alteration, and said that the business would in future be conducted under the new name.