"Impossible--he landed at Southampton only two days ago."
"Oh! so he says, but you must find out if it is true."
"I will examine the passenger-list of the last steamer."
"It is strange," said the Rector--"strange that Marlow--let us call him Marlow--should have died so opportunely. If you remember, he was much worried by a West Indian letter he received a week before his death."
"Yes; I believe that was written to warn him against Lestrange. To escape being arrested on a charge of murder, he--he--well, what did he do."
"He didn't feign death, at all events," said Mr. Phelps. "Bless me, Alan! I know the feel and the look of a corpse. I've seen dozens! Besides, you studied for medicine--your knowledge must tell you----"
"Yes, I could have sworn he was, as you say, dead as a doornail. Of course"--Alan cast about in his mind for some hypothesis--"that is--the shock of impending danger hinted at in that letter might have killed him. He died in a fit, sir, and died very suddenly."
"Humph! You didn't attend him?"
"I--a layman! My dear sir, Warrender attended him."
"And Warrender was his bosom friend in Jamaica. Alan, Warrender must have recognized him as Beauchamp--must have known Sophy was not his daughter--must have known that he had been accused of murder in Jamaica."