with the discovery that catinka had visited barnstead on the night of the murder a new element entered into the case. paul was satisfied that both dr. lester and miss clyde were innocent of the crime; and that lovel, although appearances were against him, might possibly be guiltless also. failing these three individuals, there remained no one who might have an interest in getting rid of the girl; but now that catinka's presence in barnstead had been proved by the gossip of mrs. drass and her friend from marborough, it was not impossible that she might have something to do with the matter. she might even have shot milly; for here the quality of jealousy might come into play. herne, as was stated by lovel and mrs. drass, knew the violinist, and had paid several visits to her in london. what, then, more likely than that she was in love with him and he with her, and that the discovery of his engagement and near marriage to milly might have prompted catinka to remove a possible rival from her path? but this, as paul admitted to himself, was all theory; and the facts supporting it had yet to be proved.

in the meantime, according to his promise to the absent herne, the journalist took no immediate steps towards prosecuting his inquiries relative to proving the guilt of lovel. he was determined to do nothing further until the squire's return, and possible explanation; and pending this result paul betook himself to marborough in the company of miss clyde, for the purpose of releasing dr. lester from gaol. the proceedings in furtherance of this object included an interview with drek.

they found the inspector at the police office in a very tranquil frame of mind. he had quite overcome his early doubts about eliza's evidence, and was now quite convinced that lester was guilty. also he congratulated himself on his own cleverness in capturing the criminal so speedily; quite ignoring the fact that the discovery of the guilty person--as he deemed lester to be--had been thrust upon him. as to mexton's dealings with the case, drek had not given them a thought; and he was surprised when the journalist and miss clyde called to see him.

"well," said drek, when the formalities of the reception were ended, "and what do you wish to see me about, mr. mexton?"

"about the bail of lester."

drek shook his head. "i am afraid you will find that difficult," he said, sapiently.

"why? miss clyde and myself are willing to give a bond for lester's due appearance at his trial. you know we can pay; that we are good for a thousand pounds. i don't suppose the magistrates will ask for a larger amount?"

"i don't think they'll ask for any amount!" replied drek, drily, "because i do not think they will grant bail."

"what!" exclaimed miss clyde--"do you mean to say that they intend to keep lester in gaol until the trial?"

"yes, miss clyde; that is exactly what i do mean. the evidence is so clear against the prisoner that he will find it hard to escape the gallows. if he is released, he would certainly make a bolt of it."

"i don't think so, mr. drek--for the simple reason that dr. lester is innocent."

"innocent!" repeated drek, in surprise; "why the man doesn't even attempt to defend himself!"

"i am aware of that," retorted miss clyde; "and why?--because dr. lester does not recollect the events of that night. if he did he would know that he did not shoot his daughter."

"have you any reason for believing in his innocence?" asked drek, puzzled by her speech.

"the best of reasons, mr. inspector. i took this pistol from him before the shot was fired at nine o'clock."

drek started, and taking the weapon which miss clyde presented to him, he examined it carefully. "yes," he said, after a pause; "i see the name lester is engraved on this piece of silver, so i have no doubt it is the pistol of dr. lester. may i ask how it came into your possession?"

miss clyde replied to this question by telling in detail the story she had related to paul on a previous occasion. drek listened without interruption, his eyes fastened on her face, to judge by the expression if she was telling the truth. apparently he was satisfied, for when the tale ended, he said, after a short meditation:

"i think you are right, miss clyde. lester is innocent, and if you tell this story to the magistrate you will have no difficulty in having your bail accepted. but i must own that i am rather disappointed. i made so certain that the man was guilty."

"well, mr. drek, you see he is not."

"h'm! i wonder who did kill the girl?" said drek, musingly.

"it is impossible to say at present," said paul, on whom the gaze of the inspector rested; "at present the whole matter is enveloped in mystery."

it will be seen that paul said nothing about his suspicions regarding lovel, or mentioned the fact of catinka's visit to barnstead. the fact is, after the impetuous act of drek in arresting lester, the journalist did not think it advisable to speak too plainly, lest the inspector should put lovel in gaol. it was best, thought paul, to first secure absolute proof against the man, before calling in the aid of the law; and, knowing as much as he did, mexton determined, when herne returned, to follow up the clues regarding lovel himself. as to catinka, her connection with the matter was so vague at present, that paul said nothing about her, until--as in the case of lovel--he had proof of her guilt.

"well," said drek, seeing that he could obtain no aid from either miss clyde or mexton, "it seems that i have been too hasty, although against lester the evidence was clear enough. i must go with you to get him released for the time being; and begin again in the attempt to discover the mystery."

"it is my opinion that you will discover nothing," said miss clyde, as they left the police office; "the mystery of milly's death will remain one."

there was no difficulty about the release of lester. the inspector took his visitors before the magistrate, and repeated--with corrections from miss clyde--the tale about the pistol. much impressed by the story, the magistrate accepted bail for lester at a thousand pounds on the bonds of miss clyde and mexton. at the same time he reproved miss clyde for not having told her story at the inquest.

"dr. lester is innocent," he said, "and should not have been put in gaol."

"dr. lester is a drunkard," retorted miss clyde, "and the fright of being a prisoner on the charge of murder may reform him."

"i doubt it; i doubt it greatly."

that was all the magistrate said; but he granted the order of release, and the three went off to the gaol, where they saw lester, and speedily brought him out of his cell. the man was haggard and worn with anxiety and remorse--for he was not quite clear in his mind as to his innocence--so paul took him to his mother's house, and gave him a meal. he even insisted that he should have a whisky-and-soda, though lester protested he did not want it.

"i shall never touch alcohol again," he said, piteously; "it made me mad on that night. for all i know i may have killed milly."

"that you did not," rejoined miss clyde; and told her story for the third time. lester listened in silence, and the tears rolled down his cheeks when he heard how mercifully he had been preserved from committing a terrible crime.

"i am thankful to god for having preserved me by your hand," he said, when she finished; "and i am grateful to you for having given me a lesson sadly needed."

"i hope the lesson is learnt," said miss clyde, drily.

"you may be sure it is," replied dr. lester, eagerly. "i shall never touch strong drink again; i shall go back to barnstead, and work hard to redeem my character. iris, will you come with me?"

"of course, father!" said iris, who was present; "we will return this evening, and begin a new life."

"poor milly! poor child!" sighed lester. "could it be that lovel killed her?"

"no; he did not!" replied miss clyde, sharply. "mr. lovel is quite innocent! if i have done you a service, dr. lester, don't repay me by accusing the man i love of a crime."

"i shall say nothing--nothing," answered lester, who was quite broken down; and then paul led him away into his own particular den for a confidential talk. he wished to learn what he could about the relations of herne with catinka, and thought that lester might inform him. it was the merest chance that anything might come of the conversation, yet paul determined to try. in his present perplexity he was like a drowning man, and clutched at a straw.

"i wish to put a few questions to you, doctor," said he, when lester was comfortably established with a full pipe, "and you must answer them honestly."

"i will do so, paul; you may command me," replied the man, submissively.

"very good, doctor. you know that milly was engaged to darcy herne?"

"yes, i know that; everyone knew it."

"and that lucas lovel admired milly so much that he wished to marry her?"

"i know that also," said lester, with a clouded face. "it was my poor child's meetings with that man which indirectly brought about her death."

"we will talk of that later," replied paul; "but i want to know if lovel ever saw you with reference to his passion?"

"yes, he did. about a week before milly's death he came and told me that he loved her."

"what did you do?"

"i told him that he was a scoundrel to speak so, seeing that my daughter was engaged to squire herne. then i showed him the door."

"did he take the hint?"

"no. he said that he had come to inform me that herne was not a fit husband for milly."

"oh!" said paul, recalling the accusations of lovel, in the presence of himself and chaskin when on the spot where the murder had taken place; "he said that herne led a double life, didn't he?"

"yes!" replied lester in surprise. "how did you know?"

"i heard something of it before from lovel himself. tell me exactly what was said."

lester thought for a moment. "he said that herne was in love with a violinist called catinka."

"i know catinka," said paul; "she is a polish woman, and gave concerts in this city. i saw her once or twice, but i did not have much conversation with her."

"is she beautiful?"

"she is very beautiful," replied mexton, blushing; "i admired her very much; indeed, i fancied at one time that i was in love with her. but i see now that i was mistaken."

"how long is it since you saw her?"

"about a year. but tell me, doctor, what else did lovel say?"

"nothing much," replied lester, with a shrug. "he declared that herne went to visit catinka in bloomsbury square."

"oh, is that the address?" said paul, taking out his note-book.

"it is. number one thousand, bloomsbury square," said lester. "why do you make a note of it?"

"i'll tell you later on. what did you say to lovel?"

"i told him that i would ask herne as to the truth of these accusations."

"did you do so?"

"i did. the very next time that he called at the house i saw him myself, and told him what lovel said."

"did he defend himself?"

"no." was lester's unexpected reply. "he said that he knew catinka well, and that he often visited her in london; but that his friendship with her was nothing to which milly, or i, as milly's father, could object."

"how did he explain this friendship?"

"on the ground that catinka was a fellow-worker with him to help the afflicted. from what i can gather the lady seems to be a kind of socialist, who uses her profession to mask her real business, which is intriguing against russia. she wishes, so herne said, to free her country, and enlisted him in her society."

"oh, she has a society, then?"

"oh, yes; it is called, as herne told me, 'the society of the rainbow feather.'"

"what!" cried paul, jumping up. "the rainbow feather?"

"you are excited," said lester.

"excited!" echoed paul, walking hurriedly to and fro--"i have every reason to be so! do you know that a rainbow feather was found by herne on the very spot where milly lay dead?"

"what of that?" asked lester, whose slow brain could not follow paul's idea.

"can't you see--catinka must have dropped that feather there!"

"but she is in london!"

"she was in barnstead on the night of the murder," replied paul, sharply; "and by the evidence of that feather she must have been in the winding lane on the night of the murder."

"i can't see her reason."

"i can. she heard that herne was engaged to milly and came down to see her. she followed her to the winding lane, and, for all i know, shot her."

"why should she shoot milly?" cried lester, rising.

"i don't know; i can't say. i must find out. lester, not a word of this to anyone. you return to barnstead with iris, and i'll go up to london to-morrow."

"to see catinka?"

"yes, and herne. what; you don't know? herne has gone up to london also, about that feather. i am sure of it, though i have no proof. i'll call at bloomsbury square, and find out the truth about him and catinka. also, i'll know why she came to barnstead, and what she was doing in the winding lane."

"but how can you get her to speak?"

"how? by means of the rainbow feather, of course!"