Li Chang, for once, permitted his immobile features to show some semblance of anxious uncertainty.
"That," he said, "is a mystery which can, perhaps, never be solved. But it saves your Government much trouble."
In those few words he expressed quite clearly the line he adhered to throughout a long cross-examination. Neither Winter nor the commissioner could shake him. The fire was an accident—the outcome of an extraordinary chance. He knew nothing whatsoever of its origin.
After a protracted debate in private between the two heads of the Criminal Investigation Department, the names and addresses of the prisoners were recorded and they were set at liberty.
Before Li Chang went away Furneaux demanded the return of the three ivory skulls, which were promptly handed over.
"One word in your ear," murmured the detective, sotto voce. "Did Wong Li Fu recognize you?"
"Oh, yes," said the Chinaman.
"And you spoke to him?"
"Oh, yes."
The eyes of the two clashed. For once, Furneaux peered deep into the mind of an Oriental, and what he saw there kept him quiet, but he knew, just as surely as if he had been present, exactly what Li Chang said to Wong Li Fu. He delivered a message from two graves in far-off China.