He was gone before I could question him further and there was nothing for me to do but to execute the commission he had laid on me.

I met Carton at his club, relating to him all that I could about the progress of the case.  He seemed interested but I could see that his mind was really not on it.  The estrangement between him and Margaret Ashton outweighed success in this case and even in the election.

Half an hour before the appointed time, however, we arrived at the laboratory in Carton’s car, to find Kennedy already there, putting the finishing touches on the preparations he was making to receive his “guests.”

“Dorgan will be here,” he answered, evading Carton’s question as to what he had discovered.

“Dorgan?” we repeated in surprise.

“Yes.  I have made arrangements to have Martin Ogleby, too.  They won’t dare stay away.  Ike the Dropper, Dr. Harris, and Marie Margot have not been found yet, but Miss Kendall will bring Sybil Seymour.  Then we shall see.”

The door opened.  It was Ogleby.  He bowed stiffly, but before he could say anything, a noise outside heralded the arrival of someone else.

It proved to be Dorgan, who had come from an opposite direction.  Dorgan seemed to treat the whole affair with contempt, which he took pleasure in showing.  He was cool and calm, master of himself, in any situation no matter how hostile.

As we waited, the strained silence, broken only by an occasional whisper between Carton and Kennedy, was relieved even by the arrival of Miss Kendall and Sybil Seymour in a cab.  As they entered I fancied that a friendship had sprung up between the two, that Miss Kendall had won her fight for the girl.  Indeed, I suspect that it was the first time in years that the girl had had a really disinterested friend of either sex.

I thought Ogleby visibly winced as he caught sight of Miss Seymour.  He evidently had not expected her, and I thought that perhaps he had no relish for the recollection of the Montmartre which her presence suggested.

Miss Seymour, now like herself as she had appeared first behind the desk at the hotel, only subdued and serious, seemed ill at ease.  Dorgan, on the other hand, bowed to her brazenly and mockingly.  He was evidently preparing against any surprises which Craig might have in store, and maintained his usual surly silence.

“Perhaps,” hemmed Ogleby, clearing his throat and looking at his watch ostentatiously, “Professor Kennedy can inform us regarding the purpose of this extra-legal proceeding?  Some of us, I know, have other engagements.  I would suggest that you begin, Professor.”

He placed a sarcastic emphasis on the word “professor,” as the two men faced each other—­Craig tall, clean-cut, earnest; Ogleby polished, smooth, keen.

“Very well,” replied Craig with that steel-trap snap of his jaws which I knew boded ill for someone.