"Acted under orders, Mr. Thorold."
"Whose orders?"
"Mr. Marlow's, or rather, I should say Mr. Beauchamp's."
"Blair!"
Alan gasped out the name. His face was white and he was appalled at the news. For the moment he believed the inspector must have taken leave of his senses.
"Oh, I dare say your astonishment is natural," said the inspector, lighting his cigar. "I was astonished myself to find the dead man alive and kicking. Yet I should not have been, for I suspected the truth."
Alan had not yet recovered from his amazement.
"You suspected that Mr. Marlow was alive!" he said faintly. "On what evidence?"
"On circumstantial evidence," said Blair smartly. "When I examined the coffin with Mr. Phelps I noticed what he did not. At the sides small holes were bored in inconspicuous places, and the shell of the leaden case was pierced. Only one inference could be drawn from this--that the man had designedly been buried alive. The design must have been carried out by Warrender and the short man. I suspected Joe, from the fact of his having given that sovereign to Cicero, and I watched him. Presuming my belief to be correct, I made certain that sooner or later he would rejoin his master. As I say, he went to Brighton. I followed close on his heels to a boarding-house in Lansdowne Place. There I saw Mr. Marlow."
"Did he recognize you?"