'Don't you take on so, Mr Cargrim, sir!' said Tinkler, grimly. 'There was precious little religion about Jentham, and he was buried in a much better fashion than he deserved, and not by the parish either.'
Cargrim looked up suddenly. 'Who paid for his funeral then?'
'A charitable la—person, sir, whose name I am not at liberty to tell anyone, at her own request.'
'At her own request,' said the chaplain, noting Tinkler's slips and putting two and two together with wondrous rapidity. 'Ah, Miss Whichello is indeed a good lady.'
'Did you—do you know—are you aware that Miss Whichello buried him, sir?' stammered the inspector, considerably astonished.
'I have just come from her house,' replied Cargrim, answering the question in the affirmative by implication.
'Well, she asked me not to tell anyone, sir; but as she told you, I s'pose I can say as she buried that corpse with a good deal of expense.'
'It is not to be wondered at, seeing that she took an interest in the wretched creature,' said Cargrim, delicately feeling his way. 'I trust that the sight of his body in the dead-house didn't shock her nerves.'
'Did she tell you she visited the dead-house?' asked Tinkler, his eyes growing larger at the extent of the chaplain's information.
'Of course she did,' replied Cargrim, and this was truer than most of his remarks.