Spruce gave a gasp and rose as if moved by springs.
"What do you mean by saying that, may I ask?" he demanded in a choked voice.
"I mean that you murdered Madoc Evans and that Bottles here can prove it."
"A lie! A wicked, false lie!" gasped the Nut, who became deadly pale.
Vane chuckled; tense as the situation was, he chuckled. "You have been weaving a rope for your own neck all this time, Spruce," he remarked grimly.
"Such an accusation is ridiculous!" said the other, with an attempt at dignity. "Is it likely that I would dress up as a woman to----"
"You were always good in amateur theatricals," said Vane remorselessly. "And you would do anything to get the two thousand a year, which, by the way, you are not likely to enjoy."
"My enemy speaks," said Spruce dramatically. "It's one thing to say a thing and another thing to prove a thing."
"You are quite epigrammatic!" sneered the barrister.
"Hush, Jim, and let the boy speak. He can prove that Spruce is guilty."