He is in jail now, and will be brought
up this morning on a charge of passing false money."
"I'll look into it, Drudge. It is strange about the scent:
but there may be nothing in the matter. The man could easily
buy scent of the kind Mrs. Herne uses. Go back to Soho and
watch the house. Let me know if Mrs. Herne comes out, and
where she goes."
"Yes, sir," said Drudge, and bowed himself out.
When the man was gone Jennings walked up and down his room in
a great state of excitement. He was beginning to see the end
of the matter. That the scent should be used by a man who was
passing false coins confirmed his idea that it was some
peculiar sign whereby the members of the gang recognized one
another. If Mrs. Herne really was the aunt of Maraquito, this
matter implicated her as well as the niece. And Mrs. Herne
had been accustomed to go to Rose Cottage, which hinted that
Miss Loach had perhaps learned of the existence of the gang
and had suffered for her indiscreet curiosity.
"I believe Miss Loach threatened to disclose what she knew.
She may have learned that the gang worked in that house from
the fact of the ghosts, in which so strongminded an old lady
would not believe. I daresay she threatened exposure, and
someone killed her. Perhaps Mrs. Herne herself. No, confound
it, she was out of the house. Well, I'll see this man now in
jail. I may be able to force him to tell. And I'll call on
Lord Caranby to-day, and get permission to search the
unfinished house.
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