After that there was little more to be said. The old man was ill and feeble. For the moment he had braced himself to tell his story, and the hope of being righted had given him unnatural strength; but now that all was told, Nature claimed her own, and Dean fell back on his bed thoroughly exhausted. Ferris desired to stay beside his father, but when the warder came back they would not permit this, and in the end the three left the prison. In the street Gebb turned to speak a few words to Edith before leaving for town, as he had decided to do.
"What are your intentions?" he asked.
"I shall stay here until to-morrow," she replied. "I am too exhausted to return to London to-night But I must go up in the morning, as I promised to see Mr. Alder."
"Alder?" repeated Gebb, who had half forgotten the man; "how is he?"
"Very ill--dying, they say; and he sent for me to see him. I could not go to-day, as I came here with Arthur to see what had been done about his father. Do you think he is innocent?"
"Yes, I do," replied Gebb; "but I am puzzled about the jewels. I cannot help thinking that Dean knows something about them; but he won't speak."
"He may to-morrow morning," said Ferris, quickly. "I think he is too exhausted to-night to remember much more. His memory has been severely taxed to-day, you know. I shall speak to him to-morrow, and whatever he tells me I shall tell you, Mr. Gebb."
"Very well," replied Gebb, dubiously, and walked briskly to the railway station, as he was anxious to reach London, to see Parge and tell him what he had discovered.
Also, he desired the advice of Parge regarding the jewels, for despite Arthur's promise, he did not trust him altogether. The young man had deceived him before, and should occasion arise might do so again. So Gebb determined to act independently of anything which might be said by Dean in the morning. He was surrounded on all sides by people who, with their own ends to gain, were more or less unscrupulous, so it behoved him to be wary. Otherwise, he would never pluck out the heart of this mystery.
On arriving in town Gebb went to his office, and there found three letters for him. Two, from the station-master and the ticket-clerk of Norminster Station, were corroborative of Dean's visit to town on the evening of the twenty-fourth of July; for both stated that Mad Martin, the gardener of Kirkstone Hall, had purchased a return ticket, and had left for London by the five o'clock train. But knowing what he did, this evidence came too late to enlighten Gebb in any degree, so he tossed the letters aside and opened the third one. It proved to be from Parge, requesting him to call and see him at once on important business concerning the Grangebury murder case, these latter words being underlined.