Page:Bentley- Trent's Last Case (Nelson, nd).djvu/165

Rh Why did he conceal your errand in that way, I wonder.'

The young man made a gesture of helplessness. 'Why? I can guess no better than you.'

'Why,' muttered Trent as if to himself, gazing on the ground, 'did he conceal it–from Mrs. Manderson?' He looked up at Marlowe.

'And from Martin,' the other amended coolly. 'He was told the same thing.'

With a sudden movement of his head Trent seemed to dismiss the subject. He drew from his breast-pocket a letter-case, and thence extracted two small leaves of clean, fresh paper.

'Just look at these two slips, Mr Marlowe,' he said. 'Did you ever see them before? Have you any idea where they come from?' he added, as Marlowe took one in each hand and examined them curiously.

'They seem to have been cut with a knife or scissors from a small diary for this year from the October pages,' Marlowe observed, looking them over on both sides. 'I see no writing of any kind on them. Nobody here has any such diary so far as I know. What about them?'