Pagina 293 di 657

He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. Neville St. Clair and

swore that the presence of the clothes in his room was as much a

mystery to him as to the police. As to Mrs. St. Clair's assertion

that she had actually seen her husband at the window, he declared

that she must have been either mad or dreaming. He was removed,

loudly protesting, to the police-station, while the inspector

remained upon the premises in the hope that the ebbing tide might

afford some fresh clue.

"And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they

had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not

Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And

what do you think they found in the pockets?"

"I cannot imagine."