a confidence trickster. Pyne declares that Loftus is Mr. Long. Within his doctor's kit, he would have something which could have caused Smethurst's death. Loftus was also quick to pinpoint the cause of death as being a bump on the head, prompted by an earlier conversation reminiscing about the former rigours of the journey. The final proof is that he tried to pass suspicion onto Hensley. Pyne had already examined Hensley's socks before he asked "Loftus". At that moment, they were free of sand. Samuel Long lights a cigarette and languidly confesses. He met the real Loftus in Egypt and bought his identity for twenty thousand pounds. Smethurst was his fag at Eton and recognised him. He did not give him away instantly, as he had a case of hero worship for the man when he was younger. Long suddenly collapses and Pyne theorises that the cigarette contained prussic acid. He has escaped justice. The House at Shiraz Parker Pyne is still in the orient on his way to Teheran, then Shiraz. He is taking the route by a monoplane flown on the first leg on the journey by a young German pilot called Herr Schlagal. Disappointed with the modernity of Teheran, Pyne invites Schlagal to dine with him. They talk about his job, flying across the Middle East. The pilot tells Pyne of his first two passengers, a young titled lady called Esther Carr and her beautiful companion who Schlagal fell in love with. Soon after, the second young woman was dead. Schlagal suspects Lady Esther of the murder, seeing insanity in her eyes and in her manner. Pyne knows of Lady Esther's parents and of her family. Insanity has been a curse for them for several generations. Arriving in Shiraz on the second day of the Nowruz festival, Pyne makes the acquaintance of the English consul and dines with him. He enquires after a striking house that he saw just outside the town on a visit to the tomb of Hafez, the poet. The consul tells him that this is none other than the home of Lady Esther. She now lives as a recluse, refusing to see anyone from her old country. The consul took over his post the very day after the death of the companion. The woman fell from a balcony in the courtyard, while carrying a breakfast tray. The consul also mirrors some of the