"mrs. st. clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. inspector barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful examination of the premises, but without finding anything which threw any light upon the matter. one mistake had been made in not arresting boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes during which he might have communicated with his friend the lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and searched, without anything being found which could incriminate him. there were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from the same source. he denied strenuously having ever seen mr. neville st. clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. as to mrs. st. clair’s assertion that she had actually seen her husband at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or dreaming. he was removed, loudly protesting, to the police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue.