"Why should they be aroused?" asked Audrey, quickly. "He knows nothing of Rosy Pearl's doings on that night."
"No, I daresay he doesn't," replied Shawe, turning away his face; "but if he thought that you were looking into this case, and that Miss Pearl was suspected, he might make trouble. Go back home, Audrey, my darling, and leave me to deal with the matter."
"Very well; but you must promise to come and tell me all about it. Meet me at the usual place in the Gardens to-morrow afternoon at three."
"Yes." Ralph glanced at his watch. "I must get a taxi and drive as hard as I can to Buckingham Street, or Miss Toat may leave her office. It's after five o'clock as it is."
"What are you going to do exactly, Ralph?" asked Audrey, detaining him.
"Explain matters to Perry Toat, and ask her to look up Miss Pearl," said the young man, hastily, and fairly ran away from the girl.
Audrey returned to her home filled with anxious fears. There was something strange about her lover's unwillingness to discuss matters freely with her. Also, she could not conceive why he wished her to obey the instructions of the anonymous letter and abandon all further search for the assassin. With the instinct of a woman in love, she felt that there was a veil between her and Ralph. But why there should be, she could not conceive. "The only thing to be done is to wait patiently," Audrey thought, as she dressed for dinner. "Sooner or later I shall learn why Ralph is behaving so strangely."
Meanwhile, Shawe, never thinking that Audrey was puzzled by his odd reluctance, had found Perry Toat on the point of leaving her office. When he breathlessly explained his errand she sat down to gather details. The idea that Rosy Pearl had been sleeping in the Pink Shop on the night when Lady Branwin had been murdered revealed matters in a new light. Had she known about the diamonds being in Madame Coralie's possession, she might have been still more certain; but since Ralph had solemnly promised Audrey to keep silent on this particular point, he could not impart all his suspicions to the detective. However, she learnt enough to suggest the building up of another and more feasible theory.
"Of course, Rosy Pearl's desire to become Lady Branwin the second provides a strong motive for the commission of the crime."
"But we don't know that Miss Pearl is anxious to marry Sir Joseph. He is anxious to marry her, but that is quite a different thing."