"Mr. Carlyle asked me for one. Here is the best I could get."
Carrados rang the bell.
"This, Parkinson," he said, when the man appeared, "is a photograph of a Mr. —— What first name, by the way?"
"Austin," put in Hollyer, who was following everything with a boyish mixture of excitement and subdued importance.
"—of a Mr. Austin Creake. I may require you to recognize him."
Parkinson glanced at the print and returned it to his master's hand.
"May I inquire if it is a recent photograph of the gentleman, sir?" he asked.
"About six years ago," said the lieutenant, taking in this new actor in the drama with frank curiosity. "But he is very little changed."
"Thank you, sir. I will endeavour to remember Mr. Creake, sir."
Lieutenant Hollyer stood up as Parkinson left the room. The interview seemed to be at an end.