I have since heard from friends at Broxmouth that Marston has gone to the Malay States, and that Gubbins is doing something in Germany. Curious creature Marston must have been! Imagine after Jones had returned from his infamous errand and told him that the hideous deed was done, imagine Marston walking back to Broxmouth along the Lovers' Walk in the rain and the darkness, past the Dog's Tooth Cliff, at the foot of which the body of the murdered girl lay! I wonder what would be the views of the Old Man in the Corner on the psychology of a man with nerve enough for such an ordeal.
VII
THE TYTHERTON CASE
§1
"What do you make of this?" the Old Man in the Corner said to me that afternoon. "A curious case, is it not?"
And with his claw-like fingers he indicated the paragraph in the Evening Post which I had just been perusing with great interest.
"At best," I replied, "it is a very unpleasant business for the Carysforts."
"And at the worst?" he retorted with a chuckle.
"Well...!" I remarked dryly.
"Do you think they are guilty?" he asked.