From behind me I heard a deep growl.
"Ah! That was what I hadda find out from Serpos when I questioned him in front of all of you. I hadda find out how much he knew of what had been goin' on — about Hogenauer's experiment. He admitted he'd guessed about it already. He admitted he got a full account of the circumstances of Hogenauer's death from the copper who brought him back to Torquay. Friend Serpos is a shrewd lad; you've seen that. He knew what was goin' on, and Keppel's parts in it. And he had seen Charters sneak out the night before
"He guessed Charters had-'
"And more. He made a long-shot guess, concernin' the `envelope. folded in half,' that Hogenauer had given poison innocently to Keppel: the innocent victim. And thus pleasant little Serpos faces Charters. `You haven't merely killed one man, my friend; you've killed two. Shall I ring up Bristol and prove it? Shall I call the police, too? Or will you protect me and give me some of that money? Eh?
"'Shall I prove it? Listen; they don't answer. Yes, they do. Here they are now. It's a police inspector on the wire. Speak up, my friend, and decide. (This is L. speaking. Would you like to know the truth about the money?)' And Charters, sweatin' blind, decides.
"I've wondered to myself-' said H.M., and stopped. "Do you understand a little better now? If Charters had been a devil, he'd have killed Serpos. I think I'd 'a' done it. And it was twistin' around awful uncertain in my mind as to what he'd do. There was a cliff behind, and a dark night over us. But Charters couldn't do it. He was only stumblin' and blunderin' about in his own mind.
"That was the situation when all of you came back to the house. You can see what I was tryin' to do with my questions now. I didn't pound anybody, except where I knew there was somethin' bearin' directly on the truth to be got. I kept off obvious paths, when I knew they wouldn't lead anywhere. I whittled it all down to showin' Charters in his own mind and soul that I knew the truth. He must have got a nasty shock when he learned L. was dead — from the lips of L.'s own daughter, livin' right here beside him, unbeknownst, all the time. He got a whole coruscatin' whirl of nasty shocks; I saw to that. But he wouldn't see it, or pretended he wouldn't see it. The gentleman murderer gritted his teeth and kept his bat straight.
"It was all neat and sharp and severe; we were fightin' it out between us, and he knew it; until I did what hadda be done. You remember his face when he read that slip of paper? He never kept a stiffer lip or a straighter bat, but you remember his face? He walked out of that house as he'll walk out of your lives. Cheer up. Forget the goblins. For this is the beautiful parish of Hammersmith, and this is your weddin' day."
"There is just one thing," I said, "that you've got to tell us
"Watch out for that truck!" yelled Stone. "Oh, holy —!'