'I admit that, but—Good Lord!' cried Captain Pendle, starting to his feet.
'What now?' asked Brace, turning pale and cold on the instant.
'Gabriel! Gabriel! I—I gave this pistol to him.'
'You gave this pistol to Gabriel? When? Where?'
'In London,' explained George, rapidly. 'When he was in Whitechapel I knew that he went among a lot of roughs and thieves, so I insisted that he should carry this pistol for his protection. He was unwilling to do so at first, but in the end I persuaded him to slip it into his pocket. I have not seen it from that day to this.'
'And it was found near Jentham's corpse,' said Brace, with a groan.
The two young men looked at one another in horrified silence, the same thoughts in the mind of each. The pistol had been in the possession of Gabriel; and Gabriel on the night of the murder had been in the vicinity of the crime.
'It—it is impossible,' whispered George, almost inaudibly, 'Gabriel can explain.'
'Gabriel must explain,' said Brace, firmly; 'it is a matter of life and death!'