Fullaway flushed and sat up in an attitude of sudden indignation.

“Oh, come, Mr. Delkin!” he exclaimed.  “I—­”

“Go softly, young man.” said Delkin.  “I mean no harm to you, and no reflections on you.  But you know, I’ve been in your office a few times, and I have eyes in my head.  What do you know about that fascinating young woman you have there?  I’m a pretty good judge of human nature and character, and I should say that young lady is as clever and deep as they make ’em.  Who is she?  There’s one thing sure from what you’ve just told us, Fullaway—­you let her know all your business secrets.”

Fullaway made no attempt to conceal his chagrin and vexation.

“I’ve had Mrs. Marlow in my employ for three years,” he answered.  “She came to me with excellent testimonials and references.  I’ve just as much reason to trust her as you have to trust Merrifield.  If she’d been untrustworthy, she could have robbed or defrauded me many a time over; she—­”

“Did she ever have the chance of getting hold of a quarter of a million’s worth of jewels before?” asked Delkin with a shrewd glance at Allerdyke.  “Come, now!  Even the most trusted people fall before a very big temptation.  All business folk know that.  What’s Mr. Allerdyke think?”

Allerdyke was not going to say what he thought.  He was wondering if Fullaway knew what he knew—­that Mrs. Marlow was also Miss Slade, that she had some relations with a man who also bore two different names, that her actions were somewhat suspicious.  But that was not the time to say all this—­he said something non-committal instead.

“There seems to be no doubt that the knowledge that my cousin was carrying the jewels leaked out here—­and from Fullaway’s office,” he answered.

“Through this fellow Ebers!” broke in Fullaway excitedly.  “It’s all rot to think that Mrs. Marlow had anything to do with it!  Great Scott!—­do any of you mean to suggest that she engineered several murders, and—­”

Delkin laughed—­a soft, cynical laugh.

“You’re lumping a lot of big stuff altogether, Fullaway,” he remarked drily.  “Do you know what I think of all this business?  I think that everybody’s jumping at conclusions.  There are lots of questions, problems, difficulties that want solving and answering before I come to any conclusion.  I’ll tell you what they are,” he went on bending forward in his lounge chair and looking from one to the other of the faces around him and beginning to tick off his points on the tips of his fingers.  “Listen!  One—­Was James Allerdyke really murdered, or did he die a natural death?  Two—­Had James Allerdyke those jewels in his possession when he entered that S——­ Hotel at Hull!  Three—­Has the robbery, or disappearance, of the Princess Nastirsevitch’s jewels anything whatever to do with the theft of Mademoiselle de Longarde’s property?  Four—­Was that man Lydenberg shot in Hull as a result of some connection with either, or both, of these affairs, or was he murdered for private or political reasons?  Let me get a clear understanding of everything that’s behind all these problems,” he concluded, with a knowing smile, “and I’ll tell you something!”