Hallo ! Adela ! In bed ? Win at Bridge ? Who did ? That young man has too much luck — the young bounder won two races to-day ; and he 's as rich as Croesus . His father did sell carpets , wholesale , in the City . Ronny Dancy took a tenner off him , anyway , before dinner . Standing jump on to a bookcase four feet high . De Levis had to pay up , and sneered at him for making money by parlour tricks . That young Jew gets himself disliked . Not a bit . I like Jews . That 's not against him — rather the contrary these days . But he pushes himself . The General tells me he 's deathly keen to get into the Jockey Club .It 's amusing to see him trying to get round old St Erth . He 's got some pretty good horses .Ronny Dancy 's on his bones again , I 'm afraid . He had a bad day . When a chap takes to doing parlour stunts for a bet — it 's a sure sign . What made him chuck the Army ? Well , he can n't exist on backing losers . Yes . He 's a queer chap . I 've always liked him , but I 've never quite made him out . What do you think of his wife ? Is he ? Who 's beyond them ? I know . Half-past eleven .Newmarket always makes me sleepy . You 're keeping Morison up . LADY ADELA goes to the door , blowing a kiss . CHARLES goes up to his dressing-table and begins to brush his hair , sprinkling on essence . There is a knock on the corridor door . Come in . DE LEVIS enters , clad in pyjamas and flowered dressing-gown . He is a dark , good-looking , rather Eastern young man . His face is long and disturbed . Hallo ! De Levis ! Anything I can do for you ? What !How do you mean stolen ? Good Lord ! How much ? Phew ! What ? That weed Dancy gave you in the Spring ? You locked — This is damned awkward , De Levis . Have you got the numbers of the notes ? What were they ? What d'you want me to do ? Is it likely ? Good Lord ! We 're not in Town ; there 'll be nobody nearer than Newmarket at this time of night — four miles . The door from the bedroom is suddenly opened and LADY ADELA appears . She has on a lace cap over her finished hair , and the wrapper . Worse ; he 's had a lot of money stolen . Nearly a thousand pounds . Thrilling ! What 's to be done ? He wants it back . Yes ! What am I to do ? Fetch the servants out of their rooms ? Search the grounds ? It 'll make the devil of a scandal . Next to you ? The Dancys on this side , and Miss Orme on the other . What 's that to do with it ? Let 's get them . But Dancy was down stairs when I came up . Get Morison , Adela ! No . Look here ! When was this exactly ? Let 's have as many alibis as we can . How long has Morison been up with you ? Half an hour . Then she 's all right . Send her for Margaret and the Dancys — there 's nobody else in this wing . No ; send her to bed . We do n't want gossip . D'you mind going yourself , Adela ? Right . Could you get him too ? D'you really want the police , De Levis ? Then , look here , dear ! Slip into my study and telephone to the police at Newmarket . There 'll be somebody there ; they 're sure to have drunks . I 'll have Treisure up , and speak to him .LADY ADELA goes out into her room and closes the door . Look here , De Levis ! This is n't an hotel . It 's the sort of thing that does n't happen in a decent house . Are you sure you 're not mistaken , and did n't have them stolen on the course ? How was your window ? You 've got a balcony like this . Any sign of a ladder or anything ? It must have been done from the window , unless someone had a skeleton key . Who knew you 'd got that money ? Where did Kentman pay you ? Anybody about ? Suspicious ? You must have been marked down and followed here . Might have got it somehow .Come in . TREISURE , the Butler , appears , a silent , grave man of almost supernatural conformity . DE LEVIS gives him a quick , hard look , noted and resented by WINSOR . Who valets Mr De Levis ? When was he up last ? When did he go to bed ? But did he go ? Look here , Treisure , Mr De Levis has had a large sum of money taken from his bedroom within the last half hour . Robert 's quite all right , is n't he ? Look here , De Levis , eighty or ninety notes must have been pretty bulky . You did n't have them on you at dinner ? Where did you put them ? And you found it locked — and took them from there to put under your pillow ? Run your mind over things , Treisure — has any stranger been about ? This seems to have happened between 11. 15 and 11. 30 . Is that right ?Any noise-anything outside-anything suspicious anywhere ? What time did you shut up ? Having a bath ; with his room locked and the key in his pocket . Look here , Treisure , it 's infernally awkward for everybody . What do you suggest ? I entirely refuse to suspect anybody . Quite ! It 's pretty sickening for you . But so it is for anybody else . However , we must do our best to get it back for you . A knock on the door . Hallo ! TREISURE opens the door , and GENERAL . CANYNGE enters . Oh ! It 's you , General . Come in . Adela 's told you ? GENERAL CANYNGE nods . He is a slim man of about sixty , very well preserved , intensely neat and self-contained , and still in evening dress . His eyelids droop slightly , but his eyes are keen and his expression astute . Well , General , what 's the first move ? We do . Treisure has been here since he was a boy . I should as soon suspect myself . Of course , De Levis ! Phew ! Did you ever see such a dressing-gown ? The door is opened . LADY ADELA and MARGARET ORME come in . The latter is a vivid young lady of about twenty-five in a vivid wrapper ; she is smoking a cigarette . You might take it seriously , Margaret ; it 's pretty beastly for us all . What time did you come up ? Did you hear anything ? And saw nothing ? Awfully sorry to disturb you , Mrs Dancy ; but I suppose you and Ronny have n't heard anything . De Levis 's room is just beyond Ronny 's dressing-room , you know . Between the quarter and half past . He 'd locked his door and had the key with him . All right . Get Robert up , but do n't say anything to him . By the way , we 're expecting the police . De Levis has got wrong with Treisure .But , I say , what would any of us have done if we 'd been in his shoes ? Yes ; but there 's a way of doing things . He sold that weed you gave him , Dancy , to Kentman , the bookie , and these were the proceeds . He 'd tried her high , he said . He must have been followed here .After rain like that , there ought to be footmarks . The splutter of a motor cycle is heard . What 's the move now , General ? Yes , General ? By Jove ! It will . Quite .Come in ! TREISURE enters . Show him in . All right . TREISURE re-opens the door , and says “ Come in , please . ” The INSPECTOR enters , blue , formal , moustachioed , with a peaked cap in his hand . Good evening , Inspector . Sorry to have brought you out at this time of night . Yes . General Canynge . Yes . Shall we go straight to the room it was taken from ? One of my guests , Mr De Levis . It 's the third room on the left . Half-past eleven . I 'd just looked at the time , and told my wife to send her maid off . Very well , Inspector ; only — my butler has been with us from a boy . General , d'you mind touching that bell ? CANYNGE rings a bell by the bed . Come in . The footman ROBERT , a fresh-faced young man , enters , followed by TREISURE . It 's the extreme end of the house from this , Inspector . He 's with the other two footmen . Miss Orme was ; Captain Dancy not . Yes . Damn De Levis and his money ! It 's deuced invidious , all this , General . Inspector , do you really think it necessary to disturb the whole house and knock up all my guests ? It 's most disagreeable , all this , you know . The loss of the money is not such a great matter . Mr De Levis has a very large income . We do n't want a Meldon Court scandal , Inspector . What do you say , De Levis ? D'you want everybody in the house knocked up so that their keys can be tried ? I 'll come with you , Inspector . He escorts him to the door , and they go out . Well , De Levis , I 'm afraid that 's all we can do for the present . So very sorry this should have happened in my house . What ? Damn it ! This is monstrous , De Levis . I 've known Ronald Dancy since he was a boy . Really , De Levis , if this is the way you repay hospitality — Kentman paid De Levis round the corner in the further paddock , he says . DE LEVIS turns round from the window , so that he and DANCY are staring at each other . You see , De Levis ? He did n't even know you 'd got the money . Well ! You are —! There is a knock on the door , and the INSPECTOR enters . H 'm ! You 'll take it up from the other end , then , Inspector ? No . DE LEVIS turns and goes out on to the balcony . Right you are , Inspector . Good night , and many thanks . Gosh ! I thought that chapwas going to —! Look here , General , we must stop his tongue . Imagine it going the rounds . They may never find the real thief , you know . It 's the very devil for Dancy . How d'you mean ? I — I do n't follow — He must have been out on his balcony since . He 's been leaning on the wet stone , then . Against the wall , perhaps . There may be a dozen explanations .I entirely and absolutely refuse to believe anything of the sort against Ronald Dancy in my house . Dash it , General , we must do as we 'd be done by . It hits us all — it hits us all . The thing 's intolerable . By George ! You do hold cards , Borring . No go , General . You can n't go back on pace . No getting a man to walk when he knows he can fly . The young men wo n't look at it . Thank you . That 's all . FOOTMAN goes . You and I , Borring . He sits down in CANYNGE 'S chair , and the GENERAL takes his place by the fire . He only had the numbers of two — the hundred , and one of the fifties . Not yet . As he speaks , DE LEVIS comes in . He is in a highly-coloured , not to say excited state . COLFORD follows him . You make this accusation that Dancy stole your money in my house on no proof — no proof ; and you expect Dancy 's friends to treat you as if you were a gentleman ! That 's too strong , if you like ! Well — if he did ? Are you going to retract , and apologise in front of Dancy and the members who heard you ? Unless you stop this at once , you may find yourself in prison . If you can stop it , that is . Is it fair to Dancy not to let him know ? I 've known him all his life . It 's perfectly damnable for him . Of course , he 'll bring a case , when he 's thought it over . Yes . What 'll be his position even if he wins ? Quite so , unless they find the real thief . People always believe the worst . Colford !The General felt his coat sleeve that night , and it was wet . If he did do it — Twisden not back , Graviter ? Well , they 've got through De Levis 's witnesses . Sir Frederick was at the very top of his form . It 's looking quite well . But I hear they 've just subpoenaed Canynge after all . His evidence is to be taken to-morrow . I said Dancy ought to have called him . Well ! I do n't know that . Can I go and see him before he gives evidence to-morrow ? They had Kentman , and Goole , the Inspector , the other bobby , my footman , Dancy 's banker , and his tailor . Very little . Oh ! by the way , the numbers of those two notes were given , and I see they 're published in the evening papers . I suppose the police wanted that . I tell you what I find , Graviter — a general feeling that there 's something behind it all that does n't come out . They 're looking for something lurid . It 's becoming a sort of Dreyfus case — people taking sides quite outside the evidence . Look here , Mr Twisden — No , thanks . The door is closed . The General knows something which on the face of it looks rather queer . Now that he 's going to be called , ought n't Dancy to be told of it , so that he may be ready with his explanation , in case it comes out ? Well ! It rained that evening at Meldon . The General happened to put his hand on Dancy 's shoulder , and it was damp . TWISDEN puts the saucer down and replaces the cup in it . They both look intently at him . I 'd rather you did it , Margaret . Well , we 'll go together . I do n't want Mrs Dancy to hear . Half a second , Margaret . Wait for me . She nods and goes out . Mr Twisden , what do you really think ? Well , can I go and see Canynge ? If they get that out of him , and recall me , am I to say he told me of it at the time ? Thank goodness . Good-bye ! WINSOR goes out . TWISDEN , behind his table , motionless , taps his teeth with the eyeglasses in his narrow , well-kept hand . After a long shake of his head and a shrug of his rather high shoulders he snips , goes to the window and opens it . Then crossing to the door , Left Back , he throws it open and says