"How dare you say so?" said Chinston, turning angrily on him. "And you going to marry his daughter!"
"There is only one way to settle the question," said Calton, coldly. "We must read his confession."
"But why the detective?" asked the doctor, ungraciously, as he took his seat.
"Because I want him to hear for himself that Mr. Frettlby committed the crime, that he may keep silence."
"Not till I've arrested him," said Kilsip, determinedly.
"But he's dead," said Brian.
"I'm speaking of Roger Moreland," retorted Kilsip. "For he and no other murdered Oliver Whyte."
"That's a much more likely story," Chinston said.
"I tell you no," said Calton, vehemently. "God knows I would like to preserve Mark Frettlby's good name, and it is with this object I have brought you all together. I will read the confession, and when you know the truth, I want you all to keep silent about it, as Mark Frettlby is dead, and the publication of his crime can do no good to anyone."
"I know," resumed Calton, addressing the detective, "that you are fully convinced in your own mind that you are right and I am wrong, but what if I tell you that Mark Frettlby died holding those very papers for the sake of which the crime was committed?"