"
"It is not impossible," was the senior officer's comment. "Mind you, I
don't say it is my theory. In fact, I am in no hurry to form one. I
believe in going carefully over the whole ground first, collecting all
the clues and then selecting the right one."
Rolfe admitted that his chief's way of setting to work to solve a
mystery was an ideal one, but he made the reservation that it was a
difficult one to put into operation. He was convinced that the only way
of finding the right clue was to follow up every one until it was proved
to be a wrong one.
Inspector Chippenfield continued his study of the mysterious message
which had been sent to Scotland Yard. It was written on a sheet of paper
which had been taken from a writing pad of the kind sold for a few pence
by all stationers. It was flimsy and blue-lined, and the message it
contained was smudged and badly printed. But to the inspector's
annoyance, there were no finger-prints on the paper. The finger-print
expert at Scotland Yard had examined it under the microscope, but his
search for finger-prints had been vain.
"Depend upon it, we'll hear from this chap again," said the inspector,
tapping the sheet of paper with a finger.
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