Delbury of Scotland Yard, was a machine made model of all that is just and proper in a force the discipline of which is second only to that of the fighting services. Three minutes to eight every morning of his life saw him swinging off his tram in the shadow of Big Ben. The next three minutes saw him walking the three hundred steps from the tramline to the entrance under the great gloomy arch. The clamorous strokes of eight o'clock saw him hanging his hat up on his own private peg. His subordinates dubbed him 'Old Punctuous," a nickname bestowed on him by his unimpressed Irish second in command.  Shaughnessy had only arrived ten minutes before his chief. But in that time he had scrambled through an immense amount of work. A trifle excited and not a little perturbed he met Delbury at the door. "Chief, there's the devil of a stew been brewing overnight," he said hurriedly. "I've been getting a line on it, but we're a bit patchy on information yet. Murder job.

Shaughnessy bent down and whispered to his senior. "Looks like he came in through that window, chief," he said. Delbury, who was busily examine the contents of the wallet, shrugged and told his second to go over and have a look at it. But as Harper walked across he was cut short by an expression from Delbury in which amazement, incredulity and utter bewilderment were all blended. "Great heavens, Mick, look here!" Delbury had just open a concealed flap in the wallet and taken something out. Shaughnessy picked the card up. "That's the thirty-sixth I've seen like that," he said quietly..  "And it's the first one that wasn't addressed to the Yard," Delbury flicked the card over. It was addressed to Willard Lyall, Esq., at his house at Highgate. The post-mark was a smudgy bodge of ink and indecipherable. Shaughnessy took it again and studied it critically. His special

"What on earth do you mean?" asked Mercia irritably. "Well, if you must have it in so many words, miss. did he come home last night?"   "Mr. Notting hill, you are too perfectly ridiculous for words. Is it your usual procedure to ring up complete strangers at ludicrous hours of the morning and inquire if the owner of the house has been out all night?" Mercia's tone was sarcastic to the point of being politely chilly..    "Miss, if only you knew how urgent it was you wouldn't stand there being snappy like that." There was a whine almost of apprehension in the throaty voice. "will you please answer me?" he added earnestly. "Did he come home safe and sound last night?"   "Mr. Lyall didn't go out last night," snapped Mercia sharply.   "Didn't he? You can take my word for it, lady-----he did!" Mercia whitened. she felt her skin prickle all over with a sudden horrible feeling of dread. Th

Delbury and Shaughnessy climbed out of their car in the Notting Hill backwater. A hurried inspection of the local directory had soon located the jewellery shop that admitted to the proprietorship of one Tansy.  They glanced up and down the road. There was no traffic, and only a solitary pedestrian or two hurrying to work broke the monotonous emptiness of the street.  "Looks a likely sort of a hole for a jeweller's," said Shaughnessy grimly. "It's meself that's thinking Mr. Tansy has a turnover of tuppence an hour---no less!" "Looks good to me," assented Delbury. "The Ghost says he's a smelter and you can stake your buttons on it he's right. Jump around the back. Criminal aren't early risers, as a class. He's still in bed yet. Round you go and hang on to him like a limpet if he tries to make a bolt."  Delbury gave his man five minutes grace and then banged thunderously on the knocker. The echoes of it clanged through the house; and

"The other two do not matter," he said, looking her full in the eyes again. "But the third is ---- yourself." Mercia flushed a sudden scarlet eyes which a moment before had been alight with pent-up anxiety and repressed emotion blazed in an instant into hot indignation. "Arrest me?" she cried. "What do you mean? How dare you suggest such a thing?" Delbury made a gesture of restraint. "For your own good, madam, I must ask you not to get excited," he said. " this is a very grave matter and one which is as distasteful to me as it must be to you. I ask you to believe that, in all fairness to me. I will not detain you any longer than I can possibly help. As soon as I have obtained from you such information as I require I will answer as many questions of yours as you wish. also your mother can be present when I tell you."  Mercia subsided; she sat down and folded her hands in her lap, but she regarded the detective with an a