“Ah!” said Caranby, quite serene, “so you think—­”

“There can be no doubt about it, my lord.  This man set fire to the house.  People don’t carry bottles of petroleum about for nothing.”

“But why should he set fire deliberately to my house?”

“At the instance of the Saul family?”

Lord Caranby sat bolt upright.  “What do you mean?”

“Humph!  It is rather a long story.  But this man who was caught used a particular kind of scent called Hikui.  Maraquito uses it also, and her aunt, Mrs. Herne.”

“Mrs. Herne?  She is not Maraquito’s aunt.”

“She told me herself that she was.”

“And I tell you that Emilia, who is dead, was the only aunt Maraquito ever had.  Why does Mrs. Herne say this?”

“That is what I am trying to find out.  She said that you did not know the whole history of the Saul family.”

“I know quite enough,” said Caranby gloomily, “the members were abominably wicked.  Maraquito’s father died after he was discharged from jail for coining; and the mother also.”

“Well, my lord, this man, who apparently fired your house, was trying to pass false coins.  He uses the same scent as Maraquito does, leaving mysterious Mrs. Herne out of the question.”

“Well, and what do you deduce from that?”

“I believe that there is a gang of coiners in existence, of which this man, Clancy, Hale, Maraquito and Mrs. Herne are members.  All use the scent Hikui, which probably is a sign amongst them.  In what way it is utilized I cannot say, unless they meet one another in the dark, and recognize their confreres by the scent.”

“I see.  It might be so.  But why should this man burn my house?”

Jennings shrugged his shoulders.  “I can hardly say.  I think the coiners used that house as a factory.  But since it is burnt down, that seems impossible.  This man may have fired it out of revenge, on account of some row with the gang.”

“Or else,” said Caranby deliberately, “knowing that you were going to search the house, perhaps it was fired to destroy all traces of the factory.  Do you connect this with Selina’s death?”

“I do.  I believe that she learned of the existence of the factory, and that she threatened to denounce Clancy, Hale and Mrs. Herne.  Then, to silence her, she was stabbed.”

“But the three you mention were out of the house before the death.”

“I know that, and they gave their evidence freely enough at the inquest.  I have not yet fitted the pieces of the puzzle into one another, but I am certain the lot are connected from their use of the perfume.  Also, as this man who has been caught was passing false money, and as Maraquito and probably Mrs. Herne are surviving members of the Saul family who practised coining, I should not be surprised to find that my theories are correct.  But how could anyone know that I intended to go, over your house?”