The young man descended the stairs with the determination to go as soon as possible to the police-office and tell his tale. If he did not, the chances were that Madame Alpenny would run away, although he admitted to himself that her speech was not that of a frightened person. But when he reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Mrs. Tesk at the door of her sanctum, he remembered that Simon Jedd had still to be examined, and walked up to the landlady.
"Where is Bottles?" he asked abruptly.
"Dismissed from my employment!" was the unexpected reply.
"Dismissed! His brother, who is a page at Mrs. Perage's, did not tell me so."
"Simon did not wish his brother to know," said Mrs. Tesk quietly, "as he was ashamed, very naturally."
"Ashamed of what?"
"Of being dismissed for theft."
"Come, come, Mrs. Tesk, I can't believe that Bottles is a thief."
"He is!" insisted the ex-school-mistress, colouring. "Sorry as I am to say so, Mr. Hench. Several small articles have been missing lately, and amongst them a valuable carving-knife with a horn handle, which I inherited from my grandmother. So you see----"
"A horn-handled carving-knife!" echoed Hench with a start, and remembered clearly that such a weapon had been used to stab Madoc Evans. "Can you swear that the boy took it?"