"Who wrote the letter?"
"That he refused to tell me."
"Had he seen this Mr. Beauchamp, to whom the money was to be paid?"
"Never. Your father had informed him that he had left an income to Beauchamp, and that drafts for the money were to be sent to a certain place--where, I don't know. The manager sent a draft, but it was returned to him with a letter stating that the man was dead. For my own part, I believe that Mr. Marlow was Beauchamp. His plan to hide himself from Lestrange has succeeded only too well."
Mr. Phelps now joined in.
"Then I understand, Alan, that you think Marlow is really dead?"
"I do. If he had only feigned death, then Beauchamp would be receiving his income. In my opinion, the two men are one and the same. I believe Lestrange's story so far."
"Humph!" said the Rector, who was really of the same opinion. "But let us leave this question for the moment and talk of the other. You say that Lestrange arrived on the day and by the boat he asserted that he did?"
"I saw the passenger-list myself. If he had not been on board, his name would not have been there. Even he could not falsify a passenger-list."
"Then our idea that Lestrange was the Quiet Gentleman is false?"