"Oh!" Madame Alpenny waved her arms grotesquely. "La! la! la! la! I murdered him, did I? And why should I murder him?"
"So as to place me in possession of the money," said Hench solemnly. "So as to implicate me in the death, as you knew that I would arrive to find the dead body of the man you had killed. In this way you hoped to force me to marry your daughter and handle my fortune."
Madame Alpenny sat down with a cool ironical air. "A very clever tale indeed, Monsieur. And who can prove its truth?"
"Two people at least. You were followed when you first went to Cookley to join my uncle in laying the trap by means of the advertisement; you were followed on the occasion of your second visit, when you killed him."
"Who followed me? Who saw me?"
"Simon Jedd, who is a page here, and his brother Peter, who is in the service of Mrs. Perage at Cookley."
"And how much have you paid them to tell this lie?"
"I have paid them nothing. They are voluntary witnesses. Come, Madame, it is useless for you to deny the truth."
"But I do deny it, see you!" she cried excitedly. "I deny it wholly and altogether. My first visit---ah, yes, I say that I did call on your uncle, and he did tell me about the advertisement, but----"
"Why did he put in that advertisement?" interrupted Owain sharply.