One detail that is key to the subsequent developments is when Rathbury gets an order to open the lockbox that Marbury had hired. They find the leather case that some had seen him carry, but to everybody's surprise the case is empty.
After that, the inquest takes place. A testimony that rises insterest is Stephen Aylmore's. He claims that he and Marbury met, and they walked together, but at some point they parted. Then one of the counsels brings in some witnesses that saw Stephen and Marbury toegher near where he was killed. Then another witness says that Aylmore has a house in the area but he goes by the name of Anderson. When Aylmore testifies again, he admits that everything is true, but he did not kill Marbury. He also refuses to talk about his relationship with Marbury twenty years ago, or about his personal matters at the time.
After the inquest, Rathbury calls Spargo as they have found something in the leather case. In the lining there was something a silver coin with a horse imprinted in it, and the photograph of a child. Fargo thinks that the coin is some kind of token for horse races. Through a friend, Spargo learns that the coin comes from a small village which held popular horse races in the past.
Spargo goes to the village, and he talks to a man, Quarterpage who has information for him. He tells him that there were fifty coins that he knows where there are, but there is one that is unaccounted for. Quarterpage tells him the story of John Maitland, who was a bank manager that embezzled a lot of money and went to prison. Maitland took money that belonged to the bank to do business with someone called Chamberlayne. Maitland spent time in prison, but after his arrest, Chamberlayne went to London, and he died there. Yet, some people think that Chamberlayne is alive and what they buried in the cemetery was a coffin full of lead. Spargo is certain that Marbury is Maitland, who after his release from prison emigrated to Australia. His guess is right as the photograph found in the case is of Maitland's child, who his aunt took with her.
When Spargo returns to London, he is surprised to discover that Aylmore has been arrested, but Spargo is certain that he did not kill Maitland. Aylmore's daughters ask Spargo for help, but he does not know what he can do to help if Aylmore refuses to talk.
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