Mr. Guffins paused and groaned.
“But she would have it,” he went on. “She would have me make the attempt. So—”
Mr. Guffins looked at Mr. Gubb appealingly.
“You don’t believe I could do it, do you?” he pleaded.
“Not in any manner of means,” said Mr. Gubb.
“That’s what I want you to prove to her,” said Mr. Guffins. “That’s why I came to you. Everybody knows you are a detective. I want you to—to get on my trail.”
“You want me to arrest you!” cried Mr. Gubb with surprise.
“I want you to be looking for me as if you wanted to arrest me,” said poor Mr. Guffins; “as if you had received word that I was a fraud, and that you had traced me to Mrs. Lippett’s. You can go there and say: ‘Gone! I am too late! He has escaped.’ And then you can tell her it couldn’t be.”
“That what couldn’t be?” asked Mr. Gubb.