The man Franklin paused again for a few moments then, in response to my repeated question, said?—

“To the boy Charles old Mr. Burrell gave the name of Wooton, the present-day corruption of Wollerton, and he was brought up by a farmer’s wife at Sutton Bridge for the first ten years of his life, being afterwards sent to school at Hythe, in Kent. At the time I discovered all these facts Dorothy Wollerton, who is, of course, unaware of her real name, was twenty-two, and her brother Charles a year and three months younger—a smart young man, who had entered the office of a ship-broker in Leadenhall Street. Having obtained this information in secret, together with the whereabouts of both of them, I gave it to my companions, whereupon they at once set to work upon an ingenious plan.

“Miss Drummond—as she believed herself to be—was informed by letter from me as a solicitor that in future she would be under the guardianship of Mr. Charles Purvis, of St. Peter’s Square, Hammersmith, a gentleman who had been appointed by the late Mr. Burrell before his death, while at the same time Bennett got on friendly terms with Charles Wooton. Thus, for the second time in their lives, brother and sister met at Purvis’ house, and, being unaware of their relationship, fell in love with each other.”

The man paused for a moment, regarding the astonishment upon the faces of all of us. Then he went on, saying?—

“It must be borne in mind that Charles Wooton, being the youngest, was heir to the estate of Bartholomew da Schorno. He was a shrewd young fellow, however, and appears very soon to have entertained suspicions of Bennett and the others, while having made inquiries regarding Purvis, he found him to be scarcely the sort of man who should be guardian to Dorothy. He therefore refused to associate with us, and for some weeks we saw nothing of him. Bennett and Purvis, however, prevailed upon Dorothy to invite him one evening to the house at Kilburn, which, by the way, Bennett had taken furnished. He went there on an invitation to supper, and—well, you know the rest. He was stabbed to the heart by Bennett, while I, not knowing what was intended, escorted Dorothy to the house, where the others compelled her to touch the dead man’s face, after which Bennett and Purvis pointed out to her that she had acted as accessory of the crime.”

“The fiends!” I cried. “And the body—how was it disposed of?”

“It was taken in one of those zinc-lined air-tight travelling chests and left in the cloak-room at Euston, where, I believe, it will still be found. Of course, the assassination of Charles served two distinct purposes, first to conceal certain ugly facts which he had learnt about both Purvis and Bennett, and secondly his death made Dorothy heiress. It was the idea of my three companions that if the treasure were discovered Purvis should at once marry her under threats of exposure and thus obtain the money, distributing a certain portion to each of us.”

“An amazingly ingenious conspiracy!” I said, utterly bewildered at the strange story he had related. “Then to this moment Dorothy is unaware that Charles was her brother?”

“After his death Bennett to............