"Good heavens!" he said in an annoyed tone of voice, "there are three strong proofs: first, he is possessed of a large sum of money he can't account for; second, he is unable to prove an alibi; and third, his knife, covered with blood, is found on the scene of the crime."
"So far so good," said Eugénie ironically; "your reasoning is excellent, Mr. Naball, but untrue."
"Untrue?"
"I repeat untrue," she replied. "With regard to the five hundred pounds--I paid that into his credit."
"You," said Ezra, while Naball stared at her thunder-struck, "a poor girl."
"I'm not a poor girl," said Miss Rainsford coolly. "On the contrary, I'm worth fifty thousand pounds left to me by a sharebroker in Sandhurst. I did not tell Keith of my fortune as I wanted him to love me for myself. But as I knew he was poor, I placed to his credit the sum of five hundred pounds; so that settles your first proof, Mr. Naball."
"Well, it's certainly very curious," said Naball, after a pause. "I hardly know what to think--what about my second proof?"
"Oh! that's more difficult to prove," said Eugénie; "but I quite believe he did wander about. He's rather absent-minded, I know."
"Your answer to my second proof is weak," replied Naball sardonically. "And the third--"
"About the knife? Well," said Miss Rainsford, knitting her brows, "he had it at the club, you say, and slipped it into his overcoat pocket."