"How do you mean late?"
"She is a tramp steamer, and I know her captain. She comes to Amsterdam to discharge a cargo, and then proceeds to Japan. I can get an engagement as second mate when she arrives. She is expected every day. I heard from Isa that you wished to see me, and so I came over. But I shall go back in two days, as I can't afford to lose the chance of getting to the Far East."
"Why do you want to go there?"
Harry looked down. "I can't exactly say," he observed in a low voice.
The Squire looked at him keenly, then leaned forward. "Do you go to Japan to punish the priest who murdered your mother."
The young man dropped his cap and half rose from his chair, only to fall into it again. He seemed utterly taken by surprise. "What priest?" he faltered.
"You heard me," said Colpster impatiently. "The one who murdered your mother--a priest of the Temple of Kitzuki."
"How did you know, sir?" Pentreddle stared open-mouthed.
"By putting two and two together. Martha--your mother, that is--sent Miss Carrol to get the emerald, and she could only have got it from you, who had--as you told Theodore--just returned from Japan. By the way, do you know all about the death?"
"Yes," said Pentreddle, stooping to pick up his cap and thus hide his emotion, for his lips were trembling. "I read everything in the papers, and I did not come over because I wished to return to Japan and to kill the priest who, I believe, is the assassin."