"As the hour itself."
"Thanks. Come in now, sir; I will send a servant to announce your arrival."
She threw open the door of the drawing room, motioned him to enter, inclined her head in a graceful adieu, and swept down the hall.
Two minutes later he stood in the library bowing before Jasper Lamotte and his son Frank.
"Ah, it's you, Belknap," said the elder Lamotte. "And what news?"
"Very little, sir."
"But," interrupted Frank, "surely you have fired your train?"
"Yes, and I have run against the worst impediment that ever comes in a detective's way."
"And what is that?"
"A woman."