“Yes. He’s been here. He was a friend of Mr. Audley’s. But I don’t think that was his name. I believe he was called Rutley, or some such name?”
“Did Mr. Graydon know him?”
“No, sir. Not to my knowledge. He came here once and stayed with Mr. Audley while Mr. Graydon was up in Scotland shooting. But we’ll go down below and show the photograph to my wife. She has a better memory than I have.”
So we went into the basement, where I had a long conversation with Mrs. Belton, a typical retired servant of the better class, shrewd and observant.
That conversation definitely established several amazing facts which served to make the mystery of Stanley Audley deeper and more sinister than ever. It was clear—
(1) That Philip Graydon had, for some reason we could not fathom, taken the name of Stanley Audley, while Audley had passed as Graydon.
(2) That the movements of the two men were uncertain and mysterious.
(3) That Harold Ruthen, also known as Rutley, was associated with both Stanley Audley and the man Philip Graydon.
(4) That Thelma had married the man who, passing as Philip Graydon, was really Stanley Audley!
After that amazing revelation I passed along Half Moon Street, in the winter darkness, to Piccadilly in a state of utter bewilderment.