I should think you’d leap at it.”

“I am not,” smiled Charlie, “a leaping kind of man. Personal affairs call me to Hawaii. The postman refuses to take another walk. Very interesting case, but as I have heard my slanging cousin Willie say, I am not taking any of it.”

“I know,” said Rankin. “The calm, cool Oriental. Never been excited in your life, I suppose?”

“What could I have gained by that? I have watched the American citizen. His temples throb. His heart pounds. The fibers of his body vibrate. With what result? A year subtracted from his life.”

“Well, you’re beyond me,” said Rankin, leaning back and seeking to relax a bit himself. “I hope I won’t be boring you if I go on talking about Sir Frederic. I’ve been all over our luncheon at the St. Francis in my mind, and do you know what I think?”

“I should be pleased to learn,” returned Chan.

“Fifteen years make a very heavy curtain on the Indian frontier, Sir Frederic said. If you ask me, I’d say that in order to solve the mystery of his murder last night, we must look behind that curtain.”

“Easy said, but hard to do,” suggested Chan.

“Very hard, and that’s why you - Oh, well, go on and take your boat ride. But the disappearance of Eve Durand is mixed up in this somehow. So, perhaps, is the murder of Hilary Galt.”

“You have reason for thinking this?”

“I certainly have. Just as I was about to sit down and write a nice feature story about that luncheon, Sir Frederic rushed into the Globe office and demanded I hush it all up. Why should he do that? I ask you.”

“And I pause for your reply.”

“You’ll get it. Sir Frederic was still working on one, or maybe both, of those cases. More than that, he was getting somewhere. That visit to Peshawar may not have been as lacking in results as he made out. Eve Durand may be in San Francisco now. Some one connected with one of those cases is certainly here - some one who pulled that trigger last night. For myself, I would cherchez la femme. That’s French -“

“I know,” nodded Chan. “You would hunt the woman. Excellent plan. So would I.”

“Aha - I knew it. And that’s why this information I have is vital. The other night I went up to the Kirk Building to see Sir Frederic.