"But can you be certain?" persisted Patricia, bewildered by the strangeness of what she took to be a coincidence. "The emerald and the jade chrysanthemum may be still at Kitzuki, in the province of Izumo."
The Squire shook his head sadly. "No. Basil wrote me some time ago, saying that he had gone to Kitzuki to make an offer to buy back the emerald, but he learned that it had been stolen."
"Stolen! Who could have stolen it?"
"That is what I wish to find out. But it has been stolen, and now it appears in London, and was placed in your hands only to be taken away again by----" He paused and looked at the girl.
"I don't know who gave it into my hands, or who snatched it," she said, in a regretful tone. "You know all that I know."
"Didn't Martha tell you anything?" he asked eagerly.
"Not a word. She said that when I came back with the deal box she would explain. You know what happened before I reached home."
Colpster nodded. "She was murdered. Who could have murdered her? Unless----"
"Unless what?" asked Patricia, quickly.
"Have you read Wilkie Collins' story of The Moonstone?"