Dancy.  We probably shouldn’t have found it out.

Lady A. No—­but if we had.

Dancy.  Come to you—­as he did.

Winsor.  Yes; but there’s a way of doing things.

Canynge.  We shouldn’t have wanted the police.

Margaret.  No.  That’s it.  The hotel touch.

Lady A. Poor young man; I think we’re rather hard on him.

Winsor.  He sold that weed you gave him, Dancy, to Kentman, the bookie, and these were the proceeds.

Dancy.  Oh!

Winsor.  He’d tried her high, he said.

Dancy. [Grimly] He would.

Mabel.  Oh!  Ronny, what bad luck!

Winsor.  He must have been followed here. [At the window] After rain like that, there ought to be footmarks.

     The splutter of a motor cycle is heard.

Margaret.  Here’s the wind!

Winsor.  What’s the move now, General?

Canynge.  You and I had better see the Inspector in De Levis’s room, Winsor. [To the others] If you’ll all be handy, in case he wants to put questions for himself.

Margaret.  I hope he’ll want me; it’s just too thrilling.

Dancy.  I hope he won’t want me; I’m dog-tired.  Come on, Mabel. [He puts his arm in his wife’s].

Canynge.  Just a minute, Charles.

     He draws dose to Winsor as the others are departing to their rooms.

Winsor.  Yes, General?

Canynge.  We must be careful with this Inspector fellow.  If he pitches hastily on somebody in the house it’ll be very disagreeable.

Winsor.  By Jove!  It will.

Canynge.  We don’t want to rouse any ridiculous suspicion.

Winsor.  Quite. [A knock] Come in!

Treisure enters.

Treisure.  Inspector Dede, Sir.

Winsor.  Show him in.

Treisure.  Robert is in readiness, sir; but I could swear he knows nothing about it.

Winsor.  All right.

     Treisure re-opens the door, and says “Come in, please.”  The
     inspector enters, blue, formal, moustachioed, with a peaked cap in
     his hand.

Winsor.  Good evening, Inspector.  Sorry to have brought you out at this time of night.

Inspector.  Good evenin’, sir.  Mr Winsor?  You’re the owner here, I think?

Winsor.  Yes.  General Canynge.

Inspector.  Good evenin’, General.  I understand, a large sum of money?

Winsor.  Yes.  Shall we go straight to the room it was taken from?  One of my guests, Mr De Levis.  It’s the third room on the left.

Canynge.  We’ve not been in there yet, Inspector; in fact, we’ve done nothing, except to find out that the stable ladder has not been moved.  We haven’t even searched the grounds.