Mr. Bellward had taken the place some eight years before, having
moved there from the Surrey hills, but had been wont to spend not
more than two months in the year there. For the rest of the time
he traveled abroad, usually passing the winter months on the
Riviera, and the spring in Switzerland or Italy. The war had
brought about a change in his habits, and Harrogate, Buxton and
Bath had taken the place of the Continental resorts which he had
frequented in peace time.
When in residence at The Mill House, Mr. Bellward had gone up to
London nearly every morning, either walking or going by
motor-cycle to the station, and not returning until dinner-time
in the evening. Sometimes he passed the night in London, and on
such occasions slept at a small hotel in Jermyn Street. His
dossier included, a long and carefully compiled list of the
people he knew in London, mostly men of the rich business set,
stockbrokers, manufacturers, solicitors, and the like. Against
every name was set a note of the exact degree of intimacy
existing between Bellward and the man in question, and any other
information that might serve Bellward's impersonator in good
stead. Desmond laid this list aside for the moment, intending to
study it more closely at his leisure.
Of intercourse with his neighbors in, the country, Mr.
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