'And I want a bit of help in that way.' 'Well, Mr.Braden,' I said, 'I've retired, but if it's an easy job--' 'It's one you can do, easy enough,' he said.

'It's just this--I met a man in Australia who's extremely anxious to get some news of another man, named Falkiner Wraye, who hails from Barthorpe, in Leicestershire.
I promised to make inquiries for him.

Now, I have strong reasons why I don't want to go near Barthorpe--Barthorpe has unpleasant memories and associations for me, and I don't want to be seen there.

But this thing's got to be personal investigation--will you go here, for me?
I'll make it worth your while.

All you've got to do,' he went on, 'is to go there--see the police authorities, town officials, anybody that knows the place, and ask them if they can tell you anything of one Falkiner Wraye, who was at one time a small estate agent in Barthorpe, left the place about seventeen years ago--maybe eighteen--and is believed to have recently gone back to the neighbourhood.