“Yes, they do complicate things a bit, don’t they? Still, they supply a motive! Prescott may have been murdered by the thief ... dead men tell no tales. But there are other people with a motive ... there’s Barker,” he went on thoughtfully, “possibly Hornby ... these are the known motives, what about the unknown—eh?”
“The whole thing seems so damned labyrinthine to me,” I muttered.
Anthony assented. “Clear as Thames mud, isn’t it? But it won’t be a bad idea if we sit down and collect our evidence. What do we know as opposed to what we conjecture?” He emphasized the points with his pipe on his finger-tips.
“(a) That when Marshall saw the body—she rushed to the window and opened it.
“(b) That Jack Considine thinks he heard a door shutting during the night.
“(c) That Dick Arkwright (who is supported in this by his wife or says he is), heard footsteps in the garden.
“(d) That Barker’s I.O.U. is missing. Baddeley says so!
“(e) That the murder was premeditated.”
I started. “How do you know that?” I demanded.
“The lace was removed from Prescott’s shoe, my dear Bill. If the murder were one of sudden passion, you wouldn’t say ‘lend me your shoe while I take out the lace.’”