"Quite so," said Alan composedly, "and so Mrs. Warrender's diamonds are accounted for. He blackmailed Marlow. I can see it plainly."
"Then the murder of--of Warrender?" whispered the Rector, with a look of terror.
"Ah! we are still in the dark about that. Marlow, being dead, could not have killed him. Humph! I wonder if Lestrange is the Quiet Gentleman after all!"
"Alan!" said Phelps suddenly. "Joe Brill!"
"What about him?"
"Do you think he is guilty? He was devoted to his master. Warrender possessed his master's secret, and Joe might have killed him, and have run away to escape arrest."
Alan shook his head.
"There was no suspicion against Joe," he said. "Why should he have run away?"
"His guilty conscience, perhaps."
"A man who had nerve enough to commit such a murder and take the corpse of his victim back to the vault wouldn't have any conscience to speak of. Besides, the boy who slept in Joe's room says he was not out on that night."