"No; the butler who kept the house attended to him, and as Mr. Grent came and went as the fit seized him, the man would think nothing of his not coming back to his rooms."
"H'm," said Torry, "I quite see all that. Did Mr. Grent take much money with him?"
"He drew a cheque for twenty pounds for immediate expenses, but when abroad he always used his cheque-book as more convenient than circular notes."
Torry was disappointed with the result of his inquiries. Certainly he had learnt a great deal relative to the social position and daily habit of the dead man, but he had discovered nothing likely to throw light on the mystery of the crime. He was to dismiss Vass with some discontent, when Darrel rose to his feet, and, for reasons of his own, produced the image of the Mummy. This he held towards Vass.
"Perhaps you can explain this?" he said imperatively.
To the surprise of both men the secretary gasped and turned pale, then quietly fainted away.
CHAPTER VII.
[EVIDENCE AT THE INQUEST]
As may be guessed, the double tragedy caused a great sensation in London. That a respected banker should be murdered by an unknown woman, and she in her turn should be assassinated by an unknown man, was such an unusual occurrence that for quite a week nothing else was talked of. The newspapers had leading articles on the subject pointing out how negligent the police must be, when such terrible events could happen in the heart of the most civilised capital in the world. People of the busy-body type wrote letters to different editors suggesting various courses to be adopted to discover and capture the unknown assassin; and in street, drawing-room and club, discussion on the same subject waxed hot and furious. However, nothing tangible resulted from this storm in the teapot. "Words, words, words!" Hamlet's remark applies peculiarly to newspapers.
The inquest was held on the two bodies on Tuesday afternoon, three days after the committal of the crime. Torry, as having the conduct of the case in hand, had summoned the three cabmen as witnesses; also he had called upon Darrel to tell his story; had subpœnaed Leighbourne to identify the body; and had requested Vass to give evidence relative to the behaviour of the deceased before his final departure from the Fleet-street office. In fact, the detective did all he could to reveal the truth to the jury, but in spite of every effort the assassin of the unknown woman could not be discovered, or even indicated. Never was there so mysterious a case.