Atherton chimed in.

‘To that I say, Amen!’ He lifted his hand.  ‘God is my witness!’

’It seems to me, gentlemen, that we move too fast,—­to my mind it does not by any means of necessity point to murder.  On the contrary, I doubt if murder has been done.  Indeed, I don’t mind owning that I have a theory of my own which points all the other way.’

Lessingham caught me by the sleeve.

‘Mr Champnell, tell me your theory.’

’I will, a little later.  Of course it may be altogether wrong;—­ though I fancy it is not; I will explain my reasons when we come to talk of it.  But, at present, there are things which must be done.’

‘I vote for tearing up every board in the house!’ cried Sydney.  ’And for pulling the whole infernal place to pieces.  It’s a conjurer’s den.—­I shouldn’t be surprised if cabby’s old gent is staring at us all the while from some peephole of his own.’

We examined the entire house, methodically, so far as we were able, inch by inch.  Not another board proved loose,—­to lift those which were nailed down required tools, and those we were without.  We sounded all the walls,—­with the exception of the party walls they were the usual lath and plaster constructions, and showed no signs of having been tampered with.  The ceilings were intact; if anything was concealed in them it must have been there some time, —­the cement was old and dirty.  We took the closet to pieces; examined the chimneys; peered into the kitchen oven and the copper;—­in short, we pried into everything which, with the limited means at our disposal, could be pried into,—­without result.  At the end we found ourselves dusty, dirty, and discomfited.  The cabman’s ‘old gent’ remained as much a mystery as ever, and no further trace had been discovered of Miss Lindon.

Atherton made no effort to disguise his chagrin.

’Now what’s to be done?  There seems to be just nothing in the place at all, and yet that there is, and that it’s the key to the whole confounded business I should be disposed to swear.’

’In that case I would suggest that you should stay and look for it.  The cabman can go and look for the requisite tools, or a workman to assist you, if you like.  For my part it appears to me that evidence of another sort is, for the moment, of paramount importance; and I propose to commence my search for it by making a call at the house which is over the way.’

I had observed, on our arrival, that the road only contained two houses which were in anything like a finished state,—­that which we were in, and another, some fifty or sixty yards further down, on the opposite side.  It was to this I referred.  The twain immediately proffered their companionship.

‘I will come with you,’ said Mr Lessingham.

‘And I,’ echoed Sydney.  ’We’ll leave this sweet homestead in charge of the cabman,—­I’ll pull it to pieces afterwards.’  He went out and spoke to the driver.  ’Cabby, we’re going to pay a visit to the little crib over there,—­you keep an eye on this one.  And if you see a sign of anyone being about the place,—­living, or dead, or anyhow—­you give me a yell.  I shall be on the lookout, and I’ll be with you before you can say Jack Robinson.’