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to punish her for her long silence. I trust I was right in that?”

“Speaking for myself only, yes,” nodded Charlie.

“I suggested she refuse Jaynes for the present, and go through with this unpleasant duty which I felt she owed to society. I said I thought it would be extremely foolish for her to marry any man with such a threat hanging over her happiness. If he really cared for her, I pointed out, Jaynes would marry her in the end. If he didn’t care that much, then it was better to discover it now.”

They alighted and stood under the banyan tree. Charlie peered into the fortune-teller’s face. “And if Jaynes did not marry her———” he suggested.

Tarneverro shrugged. “You are on the wrong track there,” he said. “I had no sentimental interest in Shelah Fane. But I didn’t fancy my rôle—the secret she confided in me was a bit more than I’d bargained for. I felt, too, that for the sake of her own happiness she ought to get rid of this burden at last. So I pleaded with her to make public the name of the guilty person in the Mayo case.”

“And she agreed?” Charlie asked.

“Not precisely. The idea rather frightened her. She said she would think it over, and give me her decision to-night. ‘Write me a brief statement, with that name included,’ I told her, ‘give it to me at dinner this evening, and I will make everything as easy for you as possible.’ I was confident of gaining my point, or I would never have spoken to you about it. Yes, I would have gained it—but now—now———”

“Now,” Chan said, “the killer of Denny Mayo has silenced this woman for ever.”