"You were gone, or I'd have brought the reeking mess to you. I couldn't smuggle it into Bolt's house without embarrassing explanations—after a dip in that brook, those clothes advertised their presence to a distance of a hundred yards. Finally, I threw them back into the water, making careful note of the exact location, and went off to where I had left Jason's car.
"I was pretty well pleased with myself as I drove home. It seemed to me that I had solved the mystery of who killed Simon Varr, and it didn't injure my self-esteem any to think I had nailed the crime on the very person I had first suspected. Great work! I finally appeared before Jean all covered with mud and medals.
"It was when we were talking it over that the same awful idea came to us both. The more we thought it out, the less plausible seemed the theory of Janet's guilt. A sharper wit than hers had planned the murder. I told Jean about the long interview with Miss Ocky before Janet went out to destroy the evidence, and Jean groaned. It grew plain as a pike-staff that Janet was at worst an accomplice, and more probably only an accessory after the crime.
"Her abrupt departure the next day appeared to clinch this hypothesis. She—she would not betray her mistress and friend, but the shock of the discovery she must have made had proved too much for her. We figured she had either left voluntarily to—to pacify her own conscience, or at Miss Ocky's insistence because she was too dangerous to have around. And—and that's all, Creighton!"
It wasn't all, as no one knew better than the detective himself. There was something yet that had to be brought into the light and discussed. Moved to the very depths of his being, he reached out in the dark and dropped a hand gently on the big man's knee.
"Why didn't you tell me this at once, Krech?"
"I knew you'd ask that! Well, it was because Jean had some notion—and I did, for that matter—that if you learned the truth you'd—you'd get an awful jolt. We have both come to like Miss Ocky immensely, and I needn't tell you how we feel toward you! When it came to a choice of hurting you or condoning a crime we—we didn't hesitate long. Jean said if I ever let out a peep about what I'd seen that night, she'd divorce me—and, honestly, Creighton, I think she meant it!"
Some emotions do not lend themselves readily to verbal expression. Peter Creighton was silent, but there was eloquence in the tightening of his hand on Krech's knee. The big man spoke again, mournfully.
"Do you remember that afternoon at the tannery when I said I'd like just for once to find out something before you did? Well, I got my wish the other night—and I'd have given an arm to alter the meaning of what I'd found!"
"Thank you, Krech. You and Jean are two of the best friends a man ever had." The detective paused a moment, collecting his thoughts. "I expect you'd like to know how I stumbled on to the truth—? All right."