"Woman, this stranger

Knows not thy shame;

Yet there is danger

Hears he thy name.

 

 

"Hide it, conceal¹ it,

Heed² not the cost;

Breathe it, reveal it,

And thou art lost."

 

 

The diamond scarf-pin had been found on the terrace of Thornstream by Mrs. Belk, so the man to whom it belonged must have been there on the night of the murder, and the owner thereof, according to Maxwell's firm conviction--on the testimony³ of his own eyes--was none other than the stranger who had been in the company of Mrs. Belswin at the Deswarth station. The first thing, therefore, to be done was to find out who this stranger was, and demand from him an explanation of his presence at Thornstream on that fatal night.

 

Maxwell, however, did not know this man whom he suspected of being a murderer; he did not even know his name; but he could discover all about him in two ways, one of which was doubtful, the other certain.

 

The doubtful way:

 

To go down to Deswarth and inquire from the landlord of The Chequers the name, position, and business in the village of the man who had stayed at the inn. This was doubtful in this way: that supposing the stranger had come to Deswarth to commit this crime, he would naturally give a false name to the landlord, so as to obviate⁴ the danger of discovery, so Maxwell, with this idea in his head, plainly saw that going down to Deswarth in order to interview the landlord would, in all reasonable probability, be a waste of time.

 

The certain way:

 

To ask Mrs. Belswin the name of her companion, and the reason of his coming to the village. Archie felt his old doubts about Mrs. Belswin revive as he thought of the doubtful juxtaposition⁵ of this suspicious character with the companion. Why had she gone to London at the time of Sir Rupert's arrival? Why had she returned with a stranger, who had been on the terrace on the night of the murder? And why had Sir Rupert been murdered on the night of her return? Only one person could answer all these

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