Arnold one day received a note from Luther Tracey asking him to call at Fairy Lodge¹, Coleridge Lane, Hampstead. Wondering what the American was doing in that house, Calvert lost no time in obeying the summons. He knew Tracey very slightly, having only met him when paying a visit to the Baldwins, when Laura was stopping there. But he was aware that Tracey was a smart man, and long-headed. It struck Calvert as possible that Laura might have consulted with the American about the matter of the murder, and that this invitation might be the outcome of a consultation² between them. And it was creditable to Calvert's sagacity that this is precisely³ what had happened.  
On arriving at Fairy Lodge, Arnold saw the engineer in the garden with his inevitable⁴ cigarette in his mouth.
 
"Well, I guess you're a smart chap," said Tracey, shaking hands heartily⁵. "You don't let the grass grow under your feet like the majority of these English. No!"
 
"I think curiosity brings me up so quickly," said Arnold as they strolled up to the door. "I was wondering what you were doing in this galley⁶."
 
"All in good time, sir," replied the imperturbable⁷ Luther. "Just slide your eye round the ranch⁸ before you go in. Not a bad shanty⁹? No; I surmise¹⁰ that poor woman was death on flowers, and hadn't the dollars to start an orchid-house."
 
"She was poor," said Arnold, a trifle sadly. "Her husband did not allow her much money, she told me; but perhaps he didn't make much."
 
"Well, a drummer in our land generally can rake in the dollars. Did you ever see this Brand?"
 
"No," replied Calvert emphatically, "I never did."
 
Luther looked sideways out of the corner of his eye, and saw that the colour was rising in the young man's face. "Know something about him, maybe. Yes?"
 
"I know very little," answered Arnold coldly. "Only what Mrs. Brand told me, and she was rather reserved on the subject. Brand, as I learned from her, was a commercial traveller."
 
"What line did he travel in?"
 
"I don't know; I never asked. But his business took him away a great deal, and my cousin was left a lot to herself."
 
"Any children?"
 
"None. They had been married five or six years, I believe. The fact is," he added, "Mrs. Brand did not speak very kindly¹¹ of her husband. She seemed to think he was keeping something from her."
 
Luther pitched away his cigarette and lighted another. "Well, now, I guess that's my idea right along. There's a mystery about Brand, and not a very straight one, seeing he couldn't tell the woman he swore to love, honour, and obey. There ain't nothing about leaving for long periods in the marriage service, I reckon. And it's strange he's not turned up, seeing she's murdered."
 
"Well," said Arnold slowly, and following the American into the room, "I believe Brand went to Australia to see if he was related to the man who left Flora¹² this fortune."
 
"Yes. It's queer his name should be Brand also. A woman generally marries out of her name. It's a fact. Well, if he's in Australia I expect he won't turn up for some time. When he does----"
 
"What will happen?" asked Calvert, with a troubled look.
 
"The truth will come to light."
 
"Do you mean to say that the man killed her?"
 
"I guess I don't mean to say anything," returned Tracey coolly, and stretching his long limbs on a couch. "But now we're tiled in--you ain't a mason, I suppose? No. But we're private here, so fire along."
 
"What about?"
 
"I want to know----"
 
"So do I," broke in Arnold. "I want to know what you are doing here?"
 
"Oh, there's nothing low about me, sir. I had a yarn¹³ with that young lady who is as sweet as a daisy, and she told me enough to make me take root in this place. Such a time I had with the old hermit¹⁴ who owns the shanty. I had to give references and pay rent in advance, and do all kinds of things to fix up matters. But yesterday I moved in, and wrote you straight away. And here I stay till I learn the truth. And a mighty¹⁵ long time that'll be, anyhow."
 
Arnold, who was sitting in the chair with his face turned to the light, stared. "I don't quite understand!"
 
"No! Ah, that's the fault of you English. You want a heap of explanations, like that Old Methuselah who let me the ranch. It's this way. I'm engaged to Gerty B., and she's a friend of Miss Mason. Now I've cottoned to Miss Mason, and I've sized you up as a decent sort of old horse, so I'm going to see if I can pull you out of this mess. Yes, sir. Luther Tracey don't go back on a friend. I guess I stop here till the husband comes home from Australia and drops in here to see his loving wife. And he don't leave that front door until I get the truth out of him. I'm a clean shot, too," added Mr. Tracey, musingly¹⁶. "There ain't no flies on me. No!"
 
Arnold was puzzled. "What do you know about me, that you talk so?"
 
"All that Miss Mason could tell me. She landed round to see Gerty B. in a devil of a state. That stuck-up sister had been lathering¹⁷ into her, I guess. She wouldn't tell Gerty B., and just howled. So I came along and sent Gerty B. to look after old momma Baldwin--to keep her on the tiles. Yes, sir. Then I sat down and extracted the truth out of Miss Mason."
 
"What?" the blood rushed violently to Mr. Calvert's face. "Did Laura tell you----"
 
"Everything. You bet she did, and I wiped her pretty eyes with my silk handkerchief. There ain't no call to fire up. I'm engaged to Gerty B., and I don't loot another man's shanty. No, sir. I'm square and straight. Miss Mason told me everything about your going to the villa¹⁸, and the dagger¹⁹ and all that poppy-cock. I told her to go slow and lie down, and then lighted out for this rookery. Now I've got you here I want you to tell me everything I don't know."
 
Arnold, reserved like all Englishmen, was annoyed that this inquisitive²⁰ Yankee should interfere²¹ in his affairs. But the face of the man was so genial²², and displayed such interest, that he could not help laughing. "It's very kind of you, Tracey," he admitted, "and there is no one whose help I would like better. But I have already engaged a detective to look after the matter."
 
"Right enough," responded Luther, lighting²³ another cigarette. "But I work for the love of Gerty B., who's death on seeing you and Miss Mason hitched²⁴ in double harness. I'll do better than your 'tec, I guess. Now come along and put your soul into the matter."
 
"But I've got nothing more to say, man. Miss Mason has apparently²⁵ told you everything."
 
"In the way women do tell--generally and without the detail I want, sir. But Miss Mason was crying so, and I was consoling her so, that I didn't catch on to everything, Calvert." Here Tracey's voice became more earnest. "Just you trust me to the hilt. I'm your friend, right away through, and God knows you need one."
 
"Do you think I am in danger?"
 
"On the face of it, I do."
 
"But I can produce an alibi²⁶."
 
"Good again. What's that, anyhow?"
 
"Just this. I was asleep in my lodgings²⁷ up till nine o'clock on that night, and only went down to the theatre half an hour later. I believe that the woman was killed between eight and nine."
 
"That's all right enough," assented²⁸ the American, looking at the ash of his cigarette. "But you were in the house later, and you've come in for the money, and the dagger was yours. There may be a way of the prosecution²⁹ getting out of the woman having been killed so early, and then you get left."
 
"Tracey, I swear when I saw the body it was almost cold."
 
"Then why didn't you call in the police?"
 
"Because I lost my head," said Arnold, much distressed³⁰.
 
Luther shook his head. "The very time when you should have kept it. If you had called in the police and explained how you came to be at the villa, all would have been well."
 
"But the money being left to me," expostulated Calvert.
 
"You didn't know that at the time?"
 
"No. I only knew when Merry wrote me."
 
"Then there's no motive³¹, though the prosecution might try to prove you knew from Mrs. Brand beforehand."
 
"Tracey, why do you talk about prosecution? There's no chance of----"
 
"Of arrest," finished the American, neatly³². "There just is, and don't you make any mistake about it. That professor chap won't give up the money without a try to get some."
 
"You mistrust him?"
 
"Oh, I reckon so. When he kept to his studies he was a harmless sort of cuss, but now he's taken a hand in this game with the chance of a fortune if he wins, why, he'll stick at nothing to land his stake. You go ahead, Calvert, and tell me what you told Miss Mason. Then I'll smooth it out and tot up."
 
Seeing that the American really wished to be a friend, and having considerable belief in his cleverness, Arnold related all that had taken place from the time he received the forged letter. When he ended, Tracey expressed a desire to see the letters. But Arnold, unprepared for this conversation, had not brought them with him.
 
"Can you remember the dates?" asked Tracey. "Both were written on the twenty-third."
 
"Hum! And posted on the twenty-fourth. Close running, that."
 
"Only one was posted. That supposed to be an answer from me to Laura."
 
"And the other was brought by a messenger?" asked Tracey.
 
"Yes."
 
"Did you reply to the forged letter?"
 
"No. Remember I only received it late in the afternoon. Believing it really came from Laura, I thought I would see her quicker than a letter could be delivered."
 
"Did Miss Mason look at the post-mark?"
 
"No. She burnt the envelope too."
 
"That's a pity. We might have found in what district the letter was posted. However, we may learn from the district telegraph office, who gave in the letter to be delivered on the twenty-fourth."
 
"We don't know the office."
 
"I'll find it," said Luther coolly, "if I hunt through every office of that sort in London. By the way, when you were in the house did you hear any one about?"
 
"No. Not a soul. And yet----" he hesitated.
 
"Who was singing while you talked to Mulligan?"
 
Arnold jumped up and shuddered³³. "Tracey, I declare that was the most horrible thing about the business. I don't know."
 
"Yet you were in the room."
 
"I was, and I saw the dead body, which I recognised as that of my cousin. I saw the policeman pass and repass out of the window. Then, thinking he was gone, I went out."
 
"Wait a bit. You told Miss Mason, that you saw him leaning over the gate? Don't make any mistake. This is important."
 
Arnold coloured. "I am telling you the exact truth. I was so confused over the whole business that I mix up things. I left the room before the singing commenced. I waited in the hall for ten minutes, hoping the policeman would not come back. Then I opened the door----"
 
"Hold on a shake. Why didn't you go up and see who was singing?"
 
"Tracey, I couldn't. My nerve was already shaken when I left the room with the dead in it. I recognised my peril³⁴, seeing I knew who she was--the dead woman, I mean. In the darkness of the hall I was waiting when I heard a woman's voice singing 'Kathleen Mavourneen.' I was so shaken that I scarcely knew what to do. All my desire was to get............