“I’ll go and warn my daughter, then,” he said eagerly. “You know, Mr. Otter, I feel as if this young gentleman and myself were already old friends. By the way, this folio, Sir”⁠—and he turned to Solent⁠—“is the book I wrote to Mr. Urquhart about. I think I shall have to trust it with you. It’s a treasure. But Mr. Urquhart is a good customer of mine. I don’t think he’ll want to purchase it though. Its price is higher than he usually cares to give. Will you excuse me, then, gentlemen?”

So saying, he opened a door at the rear of the shop and vanished from view. The two men looked at each other with that particular look which normal people exchange when an extraordinary person has suddenly left them.

“A remarkable old chap,” observed Wolf quietly.

Darnley shrugged his shoulders and looked round the shop.