Starmidge read aloud what the manager had written down on his principal's instructions.
"Drawer—Helen Lester," he read. "Bank—London & Universal: Pall Mall Branch." He looked up at the two partners. "I suppose you gentlemen don't know who this Mrs. or Miss Helen Lester is?" he inquired.
"No—not at all," answered Mr. Mullineau. "Nor does Linthwaite. I thought Mr. Hollis might have told him something about that special purpose. But—he told him nothing."
"You'll have to go to the London & Universal people," observed Mr. Vanderkiste. "They, of course, will know all about this customer."
Mullineau looked inquiringly at his partner.
"Don't you think that—as there are almost certain to be some complications about this matter—Linthwaite had better go with Detective Starmidge?" he suggested. "The situation, as regards the ten thousand pounds, is a somewhat curious one. This Miss or Mrs. Lester will want to recover it. Now, according to what Mr. Starmidge tells us, no body, so far as he's aware, is in possession of any facts, papers, letters, anything, relating to it. I think there should be some consultation between ourselves and this other bank which is concerned."
"Excellent suggestion!" agreed Mr. Vanderkiste. "Let him go—by all means."
Half an hour later, Starmidge found himself closeted with another lot of bankers. But these were younger men, who were quicker to grasp situations and comprehend points, and they quickly understood what the detective was after: moreover, they were already well posted up in those details of the Scarnham mystery which had already appeared in the newspapers.
"What you want," said one of them, a young and energetic man, addressing Starmidge at the end of their preliminary conversation, "is to find out for what purpose Mrs. Lester gave Mr. Frederick Hollis ten thousand pounds?"
"Precisely," replied Starmidge. "It will go far towards clearing up a good many things."