Roger shrugged his shoulders. “You leave me with absolutely no alternative. I shall have to tell the police what I know and leave the rest in their hands.”
“The police?”
“Yes. And I assure you I am not bluffing. As I said, I think I know almost everything already. I know, for instance, that you sat on the couch and begged Mr. Stanworth to let you off; that you cried, in fact, when he refused to do so. Then you said you hadn’t any money, didn’t you? And he offered to take your jewels instead. Then—— Oh, but you see. I’m not pretending to know what I don’t.”
Roger’s bow, drawn thus at a venture, had found its target. Mrs. Plant acknowledged the truth of his deductions by crying incredulously, “But how do you know all this, Mr. Sheringham? How can you possibly have found it out?”
“We won’t go into that at the moment, if you don’t mind,” Roger replied complacently. “Let it suffice that I do know. Now I want you to tell me in your own words the whole truth about that night. Please leave out nothing at all; you must understand that I can check you if you do so, and if you deceive me again——!” He paused eloquently.
For a few moments Mrs. Plant sat motionless, gazing into her lap. Then she raised her head and wiped her eyes.
“Very well,” she said in a low voice. “I will tell you. You understand that I am placing not only my happiness, but literally my whole future in your hands by doing so?”
“I do, Mrs. Plant,” Roger said earnestly. “And I assure you I will not abuse your confidence, although I am forcing it in this way.”
Mrs. Plant’s eyes rested on a bed of roses close at hand. “You know that Mr. Stanworth was a blackmailer?” she said.
Roger nodded. “On a very large scale, indeed.”