One single clew to the criminal had been found. Captain Ernscliffe had employed the most noted detective of the day to ferret out the mystery.
This man had been thoroughly over the ground of the murder, and had found one trifling clew.
Yet he confidently told his employer that it was an important link in the chain and might possibly convict the murderer.
It seemed a very trifling thing to Captain Ernscliffe, who had not learned by grave experience what simple things might lead to great results.
It was only a woman's handkerchief of plain white linen that he had found outside the western door, wet and soiled where it had lain on the damp earth all night.
Only a woman's handkerchief, but it was marked in one corner with a name—the simple name of "Elsie Gray."
Queenie started when she heard what the detective had said about the handkerchief. She sent for him immediately.
"Do you believe that there was a woman in complicity with the man who murdered my unfortunate sister?" she inquired.
"Madam, I cannot tell you," he answered. "She may have been in complicity with him or she may have been a chance witness. Anyhow I am bound to find Elsie Gray."