Sir Philip's body had been found not many
yards distant from the hotel at which he had
put up, and to which, therefore, he was evidently
returning when he left Mr. Jeeves. An old-
fashioned hotel, which had been the principal one
at L—— when Sir Philip left England, though
now outrivalled by the new and more central
establishment, in which Margrave was
domiciled.

The primary and natural supposition was, that
Sir Philip had been murdered for the sake of
plunder; and this supposition was borne out by
the fact to which his valet deposed: viz.

That Sir Philip had about his person, on
going to the mayor's house, a purse containing
notes and sovereigns; and this purse was now
missing.

The valet, who, though an Albanian, spoke
English fluently, said that the purse had a gold
clasp, on which Sir Philip's crest and initials
were engraved. Sir Philip's watch was,
however, untaken.

And, now, it was not without a quick beat of
the heart, that I heard the valet declare that
a steel casket, to which Sir Philip attached
extraordinary value, and always carried about
with him, was also missing.

The Albanian described this casket as of
ancient Byzantian workmanship, opening with a
peculiar spring, only known to Sir Philip, in whose
possession it had been, so far as the servant
knew, about three years; when, after a visit
to Aleppo, in which the servant had not
accompanied him, he had first observed it in his
master's hands. He was asked if this casket
contained articles to account for the value Sir
Philip set on it—such as jewels, bank-notes,
letters of credit, &c. The man replied that it might
possibly do so; he had never been allowed the
opportunity of examining its contents; but that he
was certain the casket held medicines, for he
had seen Sir Philip take from it some small
phials, by which he had performed great cures
in the East, and especially during a pestilence
which had visited Damascus, just after Sir Philip
had arrived at that city on quitting Aleppo.
Almost every European traveller is supposed to
be a physician; and Sir Philip was a man of great
benevolence, and the servant firmly believed him
also to be of great medical skill. After this statement,
it was very naturally and generally
conjectured that Sir Philip was an amateur disciple
of homœopathy, and that the casket contained
the phials or globules in use among
homœopathists.

Whether or not Mr. Vigors enjoyed a vindictive
triumph in making me feel the weight of his
authority, or whether his temper was ruffled in
the excitement of so grave a case, I cannot say,
but his manner was stern and his tone discourteous
in the questions which he addressed to me. Nor
did the questions themselves seem very pertinent
to the object of investigation.

"Pray, Dr. Fenwick," said he, knitting his
brows, and fixing his eyes on me rudely, "did
Sir Philip Derval, in his conversation with you,
mention the steel casket which it seems he carried
about with him?"

I felt my countenance change slightly as I
answered, "Yes."

"Did he tell you what it contained?"

"He said it contained secrets."

"Secrets of what nature, medicinal or chemical?
Secrets which a physician might be curious
to learn and covetous to possess?"

This question seemed to me so offensively
significant that it roused my indignation, and I
answered haughtily, that "a physician of any
degree of merited reputation did not much
believe in, and still less covet, those secrets in his
art which were the boast of quacks and
pretenders."

"My question need not offend you, Dr.
Fenwick. I put it in another shape. Did Sir Philip
Derval so boast of the secrets contained in his
casket, that a quack or pretender might deem
such secrets of use to him?"

"Possibly he might, if he believed in such a
boast."

"Humph—he might if he so believed. I have
no more questions to put to you, at present, Dr.
Fenwick."

Little of any importance in connexion with
the deceased, or his murder, transpired in the
course of that day's examination and inquiries.

The next day, a gentleman, distantly related to
the young lady to whom Sir Philip was engaged,
and who had been for some time in correspondence
with the deceased, arrived at L——. He
had been sent for at the suggestion of the
Albanian servant, who said that Sir Philip had
stayed a day at this gentleman's house in London,
on his way to L—— , from Dover.

The new comer, whose name was Danvers, gave
a more touching pathos to the horror which the
murder had excited. It seemed that the motives
which had swayed Sir Philip in the choice of
his betrothed, were singularly pure and noble.
The young lady's father—an intimate college
friend—had been visited by a sudden reverse
of fortune, which had brought on a fever
that proved mortal. He had died some years
ago, leaving his only child penniless, and had
bequeathed her to the care and guardianship of Sir
Philip.

The orphan received her education at a convent
near Paris; and when Sir Philip, a few weeks
since, arrived in that city from the East, he
offered her his hand and fortune. "I know,"
said Mr. Danvers, "from the conversation I held
with him when he came to me in London, that
he was induced to this offer by the conscientious
desire to discharge the trust consigned to him by
his old friend. Sir Philip was still too young to
take under his own roof a female ward of
eighteen, without injury to her good name.
He could only get over that difficulty by making
the ward his wife. 'She will be safer and
happier with the man she will love and honour
for her father's sake,' said the chivalrous gentleman,