"Why don't you demand an explanation of Miss Kirkstone?" he asked.
"I have, and she denies it all absolutely, except that Shan Tung came
to her house once to see her brother. She says that she was never on
the little stairway back of Shan Tung's place."
"And you do not believe her?"
"Assuredly not. I saw her. To speak the cold truth, Conniston, she is
lying magnificently to cover up something which she does not want any
other person on earth to know."
Keith leaned forward suddenly. "And why is it that John Keith, dead and
buried, should have anything to do with this?" he demanded. "Why did
this 'intense interest' you speak of in John Keith begin at about the
same time your suspicions began to include Shan Tung?"
McDowell shook his head. "It may be that her interest was not so much
in John Keith as in you, Conniston. That is for you to
discover--tonight. It is an interesting situation. It has tragic
possibilities. The instant you substantiate my suspicions we'll deal
directly with Shan Tung. Just now--there's Wallie behind you grinning
like a Cheshire cat. His dinner must be a success."
The diminutive Jap had noiselessly opened the door of the little
dining-room in which the table was set for two.
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