"You acknowledge that he gave it to you, then?"
"Of course! Why shouldn't I?"
"Because I found it on the terrace, Samson," cried his mother, madly.
"Well, what of that; I lost it there, mother!"
"When did you lose it?" asked Maxwell, quickly.
Belk thought a moment, and then started as the full meaning of this interrogation flashed across his dull brain.
"Eh! then you chaps say I killed Sir Rupert."
"We do not say so," said Maxwell, emphatically; "we only say that this diamond scarf-pin, which you acknowledge to have had in your possession, was found near the window where the body was lying."
"And that pin hangs me, sir?"
"Not if you can account satisfactorily for its being there."