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Still, I suppose the girl must have been in the habit of calling her by her full

name. And, at the moment she was crying out to her, Mrs. Vandemeyer was

either dead or dying! Curious! There are one or two points that strike me as being

obscure--their sudden change of attitude towards yourself, for instance. By the

way, the house was raided, of course?"

Yes, sir, but they'd all cleared out."

Naturally," said Sir James dryly.

And not a clue left behind."

I wonder----" The lawyer tapped the table thoughtfully.

Something in his voice made Tommy look up. Would this man's eyes have seen

something where theirs had been blind? He spoke impulsively:

"I wish you'd been there, sir, to go over the house!"

"I wish I had," said Sir James quietly. He sat for a moment in silence. Then he

looked up. "And since then? What have you been doing?"

For a moment, Tommy stared at him. Then it dawned on him that of course the

lawyer did not know.

"I forgot that you didn't know about Tuppence," he said slowly. The sickening

anxiety, forgotten for a while in the excitement of knowing Jane Finn was found

at last, swept over him again.

The lawyer laid down his knife and fork sharply.

Has anything happened to Miss Tuppence?" His voice was keen-edged.

She's disappeared," said Julius.

When?"

A week ago."

How?"

Sir James's questions fairly shot out. Between them Tommy and Julius gave the

The Secret Adversary