Claire knew perfectly well where to lay her hands upon the scarf. Anstruther was a methodical man, and hated to have his things lying about. He only used the scarf at such times as he was in evening dress. Claire went off, and Jack was by no means surprised that he had to wait a quarter of an hour. When Claire returned her hands were empty; there was a puzzled frown between her usually smooth white brows.
"A most extraordinary thing," she said . "I cannot find the scarf anywhere. It is quite certain that Mr. Anstruther is not wearing it; I thought perhaps he had thrown it carelessly down last night in the excitement of the moment, and therefore I asked Serena if she had seen anything of it. But she declared that she knew nothing, and yet at the same time she seemed to be extraordinarily upset and agitated by my simple question. She is not an emotional woman, as you know; therefore her conduct is all the more amazing. But the fact remains that this scarf cannot be found, and so I cannot oblige you. I will ask Mr. Anstruther if you like----"
But Jack emphatically wanted nothing of the kind. He was in a hurry now, he said, and would call again later in the day. He made his way directly to the Planet office, where he found that Rigby had just arrived.
"No, there are no fresh developments," he explained. "Did you take my advice last night, and have the house in Belgrave Gardens watched by a private detective in addition to the policeman engaged by Bates?"
"Of course I did," Rigby replied. "As a matter of fact I have two men at work there; one to relieve the other, and report progress from time to time. In fact, one of them has only just come in. He has very little to say, but that little was an eye-opener. I have ascertained that Anstruther is not even acquainted with Lord Longworth, and yet one of the first men to call in Belgrave Gardens this morning was Spencer Anstruther. Now, do you think he had anything to do with last night's business; otherwise what do you suppose he called for?"
"That is exactly what I am here to tell you," Jack said. "The scarf which formed so important a clue belonged to Anstruther. It is missing from his house; in fact, I called there this morning on purpose to examine the thing. We have hit the right nail on the head this time--the lost property in the hands of Inspector Bates is beyond a doubt the cherished possession of Spencer Anstruther."
[CHAPTER XXI.]
A LEADER OF SOCIETY.
It was a most important discovery that Jack had made, and Rigby did not fail to see what developments it was likely to lead to. If what Masefield had said was true--and Rigby saw no reason to doubt it--here they had Anstruther directly connected with crime.
"Do you really think that our friend actually engineered that business at Lord Longworth's?" Rigby asked.