nothing of it, and will bring an unbiased mind to bear upon it."

"And may give us a new idea," said the doctor. "I don't know whether you
are acquainted with Manleigh Road, Bayswater. There are about fifty
houses in it--a terrace, in fact, on either side. The houses are sixty or
seventy years old, I daresay, ugly but roomy, and some few years ago a
lot of money was spent in bringing them up to date, putting in
bath-rooms, modernizing them, and redecorating them thoroughly. In spite
of this, however, they have not attracted the kind of tenant they were
intended for. Many of them have apartments to let. The house we have to
do with is No. 7. The even numbers are on one side of the road, the odd
on the other. No. 5 is a boarding-house of a very respectable kind,
frequented by young fellows in business chiefly. No. 9 is occupied by a
man who, after retiring from business comparatively wealthy, had
financial losses. His four daughters have had to go out and work. I
mention these facts to show that the surroundings are entirely
commonplace. The owner of No. 7 went abroad some years ago, owing to the
death of his wife, I understand, and left the house in the hands of an
agent. It was to be let furnished, but, except for a caretaker, it
remained empty for several months. It was then taken by a newly-married
couple. They could not remain in it. The house was haunted, they said,
and I believe the agent threatened them with legal proceedings if they
spread such an absurd report. He seemed to think they said so only to
repudiate their bargain. It was then let to a man named Greaves, about
whom nothing was known. He paid the rent in advance, and lived there
alone with a housekeeper and a young servant. One morning he was found
dead in his bed, in the large room on the first floor at the back. A
piece of cord was fastened tightly round his neck. There seemed little
doubt that he had committed suicide, for when he did not come down to
breakfast the housekeeper went to his room and found the door locked on