It was certainly strange how constantly the subject of the missing mummy came uppermost.  Since it had disappeared and since the man who had brought it to England was dead, it might have been thought that nothing more would be said about the matter.  But Professor Braddock harped incessantly on his loss—­which was perhaps natural—­and Widow Anne also talked a great deal as to the possibility of the mummy, being found, as she hoped to learn by that means the name of the assassin who had strangled her poor boy.  Now Don Pedro de Gayangos appeared with the strange information that the weird relic of Peruvian civilization had been stolen from his father.  Apparently fate was not inclined to let the matter of the lost mummy drop, and was working round to a denouement, which would possibly include the solution of the mystery of Sidney Bolton’s death.  Yet, on the face of it, there appeared to be no chance of the truth becoming known.

Of course, when Don Pedro announced that the Mummy had formerly belonged to his father, every one was anxious to hear how it had been stolen.  The Gayangos family were established in Lima, and the embalmed body of Inca Caxas had been purchased from a gentleman residing in Malta.  How, then, had it crossed the water, and how had Don Pedro learned its whereabouts, only to arrive too late to secure his missing property?  Mrs. Jasher was especially anxious to learn these things, and explained her reasons to Lucy.

“You see, my dear,” she said to the girl on the day after Don Pedro’s arrival in Gartley, “if we learn the past of that horrid mummy, we may gain a clue to the person who desired possession of the nasty thing, and so may hunt down this terrible criminal.  Once he is found, the mummy may be secured again, and should I be able to return it to your father, out of gratitude he would certainly marry me.”

“You seem to think that the assassin is a man,” said Lucy dryly; “yet you forget that the person who talked to Sidney through the window of the Sailor’s Rest was a woman.”

“An old woman,” emphasized Mrs. Jasher briskly:  “quite so.”

Lucy contradicted.

“Eliza Flight did not say if the woman was old or young, but merely stated that she wore a dark dress and a dark shawl over her head.  Still, this mysterious woman was connected in some way with the murder, else she would not have been speaking to Sidney.”

“I don’t follow you, my dear.  You talk as though poor Mr. Bolton expected to be murdered.  For my part, I hold by the verdict of wilful murder against some person or persons unknown.  The truth is to be found, if anywhere, in the past of the mummy.”

“We can discover nothing about that.”

“You forget what Don Pedro said, my dear,” remarked Mrs. Jasher hastily, “that the mummy had been stolen from his father.  Let us hear what he has to say and we may find a clue.  I am anxious that the Professor should regain the green mummy for reasons which you know of.  And now, my hear, can you come to dinner to-night?”