The men had trooped towards the
conservatory, but the Professor met them on the portals.
[Illustration: "CONFESS THY SINS, MY GOOD MAN."]
[Illustration: THE BLACK BOX IS INTRODUCED INTO THE STORY.]
"I suggest," he said courteously, "that we leave the conservatory exactly
as it is until the arrival of Mr. Sanford Quest. It will doubtless aid him
in his investigations if nothing is disturbed. All the remaining doors are
locked, so that no one can escape if by any chance they should be hiding."
They all agreed without dissent, and there was a general movement towards
the buffet to pass the time until the coming of Mr. Sanford Quest. The
Professor met the great criminologist and his assistant in the hall upon
their arrival. He took the former at once by the arm.
"Mr. Quest," he began, "in a sense I must apologise for my peremptory
message. I am well aware that an ordinary jewel robbery does not interest
you, but in this case the circumstances are extraordinary. I ventured,
therefore, to summon your aid."
Sanford Quest nodded shortly.
"As a rule," he said, "I do not care to take up one affair until I have a
clean slate. There's your skeleton still bothering me, Professor. However,
where's the lady who was robbed?"
"I will take you to her," the Professor replied. Mrs. Rheinholdt's story,
by frequent repetition, had become a little more coherent, a trifle more
circumstantial, the perfection of simplicity and utterly incomprehensible.
Quest listened to it without remark and finally made his way to the
conservatory.
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