=Time--Next morning.=
_Grumpy._ Tut-tut. Is everything just as it was last night? Very well,
then. You say that when you discovered Mr. Ernest he was lying on his
back, and in his right hand he was clutching this--what did you call it?
_Ruddock (the valet)._ A dicky, Sir. A detachable shirt-front.
_Grumpy._ Excellent. Then the first question is--to whom did
this--er--richard belong?
_Ruddock._ Yes, Sir.
_Grumpy (musing)._ Could it have been his own? In the fierceness of the
struggle might he have torn it off in order to give himself greater
freedom? Was he offering it to his assailant as a bribe? Was he--but
first we must find if he was wearing one at all. Call Susan.
=Enter _Susan,_ the lady's-maid.=
_Grumpy._ Susan, you were the first to see Mr. Ernest when he came in
last night. Did you happen to notice if he was wearing a detachable
shirt-front, a--h'm--dicky?
_Susan._ Yes, Sir.
_Grumpy._ Ah! (=He hands her the all-important clue.=) Was this it?
_Susan (=examining it=)._ No, Sir.
_Grumpy._ Tut-tut, are you sure?
_Susan._ Yes, Sir; Mr. Ernest's was an india-rubber one. I know, because
he said he'd been travelling all day, and he asked me to sponge it for
him.
_Grumpy._ Thank you, Susan. Ruddock, we must find that india-rubber
richard. If Ernest has his assailant's shirt-front, what more likely
than that his assailant has Ernest's? Probably they exchanged them
before the battle, as, you may remember, Glaucus and Diomed did at the
siege of Troy.
_Ruddock._ Yes, Sir.
_Grumpy._ Every shirt-front we see we must suspect. Let us go and look
for some. [=Exeunt.=
=Enter _Jarvis_ and _Virginia._=
_Virginia._ Still in evening dress, Mr. Jarvis?
_Jarvis._ Yes, I was so busy fetching the doctor last night that I had
no time to change. I am going back to London now. (=Tenderly=) I should
like to think you had some little memento of me. (=He removes his shirt
front.=) Keep this and think of me sometimes when you look at it.
_Virginia._ Oh, Mr. Jarvis! But I must give _you_ something too. (=She
goes out and returns with one of her grandfather's shirt-fronts.=) Wear
this in place of the one you have given me--always. [=Exit.=
=Re-enter _Grumpy._=
_Grumpy._ Now, Mr. Jarvis, I wonder if you would help me. You were the
first to find the body last night. Would you mind lying down in the
position in which it lay? It may give me an important clue.
_Jarvis._ Certainly. (=He prepares to lie down.=)
_Grumpy._ Take care, you mustn't crumple your shirt-front. Perhaps it
removes? Ah, allow me. (=He detaches it and hastily substitutes the
other one for it.=) Ah, thank you so much. Here is your shirt-front
again.
[=Exit _Jarvis._=
_Ruddock (=eagerly=)._ Is that it, Sir?
_Grumpy_ (=examining Jarvis's shirt-front carefully=). No, linen,
confound it. Ruddock, we _must_ find that india-rubber richard. Who has
it? Ah!
CURTAIN.