“Any one of the people up at the Manor may be guilty, sir, it seems to me,” continued the indefatigable Roper, “and then again it may come back quite simply and directly to ‘Spider’ Webb. The job is to pick out the main trail and not go dashing off into side tracks that eventually become blind alleys.”
“Very true, Roper, very true,” smiled Baddeley. “But it isn’t quite so easy as you imagine; one of your side tracks may turn out to be that main trail and what you think is the main trail, may prove to be only a side track.”
“That Mr. Bathurst’s a smart young fellow, sir. He’d have done well in our line, don’t you think so?”
“Perhaps! You can’t always tell. What about those prints?”
Roper took them out. “They’re all numbered, sir. And I’ve got the corresponding numbers in my note-book. And I fancy we’ve got pretty well everybody here. Everybody that’s likely, that is!” He paused. Then continued: “We haven’t got the ‘Spider’s,’ sir. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?... And I’m thinking his are the most likely.”
“No, I know, Roper. Easily get those from ‘the Yard’ if necessary.”
Roper arranged the photographs. “I’ll put them in numerical order, sir, that will simplify matters a bit.”
Baddeley picked up his magnifying glass and proceeded on his course of comparison. But one by one he laid the photos down again. Then suddenly he shot up from his seat.
“You’ve clicked, Roper!” he shouted. He looked at the back. “Number 9,” he exclaimed, “number nine for a certainty, look—the identical loops and whorls—who in the name of thunder is Nine—where’s your note-book—quick, man, quick!” The prints had come out clearly and distinctly. And when compared with the photograph of those on the Venetian dagger, there didn’t remain the shadow of a doubt that the same fingers had made them. Roper flicked the leaves of his note-book. “Number Nine, sir?” he queried. He ran his eye down the page. “Major Hornby!”
Baddeley gasped. “This beats the band, Roper, but all the same, mark my words, one of the three with a motive that’s known. Well, I’m blessed.”