"Say no more!" said Shepherd. "T' mystery shall be cleared up. Deary me! An' to think 'at I've walked past yon theer pit many a dozen times within this last few o' months, and nivver dreamed 'at theer wor owt in it but watter! Howivver, gentlemen, ye can put yer minds at ease—we'll investigate the circumstances, as the sayin' goes, before noon tomorrow."
"One other matter," remarked Prydale. "We want things kept quiet. We don't want all the folk of the neighbourhood round about, you know."
"Leave it to me," answered Shepherd. "There'll be me, and these men, and yourselves—and a pair of grapplin' irons. We'll do it quiet and comfortable—and we'll do it reight."
"Odd character!" remarked Byner, when he and Prydale went away.
"Useful man—for a job of that sort," said the detective laconically.
"Now then—are we going to let anybody else know what we're after—Mr.
Eldrick or Mr. Collingwood, for instance? Do you want them, or either of
them, to be present?"
"No!" answered Byner, after a moment's reflection. "Let us see what results. We can let them know, soon enough, if we've anything to tell. But—what about Pratt?"
"Keeping an eye on him—you mean?" said Prydale. "You said just now that in your opinion we should find him at his desk."
"Just so—but that's no reason why he shouldn't be looked after tomorrow morning," answered Byner.
"All right—I'll put a man on to shadow him, from the time he leaves his lodgings until—until we want him," said the detective. "That is—if we do want him."
"It will be one of the biggest surprises I ever had in my life if we don't!" asserted Byner. "I never felt more certain of anything than I do of finding Parrawhite's body in that pit!"