noon
He felt satisfied that nothing Saunders found would relieve him of suspicion . The burning of the papers would make the detective all the more certain that Mark ought to be watched . That would help Miss Atheson by keeping the detective on the wrong scent . At noon Mark went to his room to wash before lunch . Saunders had not been very clever . There was a tell-tale smudge on the stove -- a smudge made by a hand that had blackened itself by diving down into the ashes to search among the burned papers . Mark knew that Saunders had lost no time in searching his room , and he was happy to be still under suspicion .