on to the terrace.

"Has the tramp been detained?" Quarles asked, and being answered in the
negative, said he ought to have been.

The professor examined the marks of the car minutely. There were two cars
at Whiteladies, but neither of the tire markings were those of the car
which had turned in the road.

It is only natural, I suppose, that when a number of persons are brought
in contact with a mystery their behavior should tend to become unnatural.
It is one of a detective's chief difficulties to determine between
innocent and suspicious actions, the latter being often the result of
temperament or of a desire to emphasize innocence. I never found a
decision more difficult than in the case of Eva Wilkinson's maid, a girl
named Joan Perry; and because I could not decide in her case I was also
suspicious of her young man Saunders, a gamekeeper on the estate. Joan
Perry, a little later in the day, claimed to have made a remarkable
discovery. A coat and skirt and a pair of walking shoes had been removed
from her mistress's wardrobe.

"What made you inspect her wardrobe?" I asked.

The question seemed to confuse her, but she finally said it was because
she wondered whether Miss Eva had gone away on purpose. According to
Perry the affair with Edward Cayley was a serious one. To some extent her
young mistress had confided in her, she declared.

"Then she would hardly have gone away without letting you into the
secret," I said.