From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive for securing the situation." "But how could you guess what the motive was ?" "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a mere vulgar intrigue.

That, however, was out of the question.

The man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and such an expenditure as they were at.

It must, then, be something out of the house.

What could it be?
I thought of the assistant's fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the cellar.