"How do you mean to get him to tell you the truth?" asked Freddy dubiously. "Never mind. I have some sort of a plan. I shan't explain until it comes off. There is some connection between that perfume and the crime, I am certain," concluded Dan, with a positive air. Laurance wriggled uneasily. "Oh, that is absurd. On such assumption, you suggest that Miss Armour knows about the matter."
"About what matter?"
"You know--the gang."
"Well," said Halliday, smoking thoughtfully, "we are not entirely certain yet if such a gang exists. It's all theory anyhow, in spite of the letters you drew from this person and the other. Penn certainly explained the scent, but told an obvious lie, since Miss Armour has it. I don't say that she knows anything, but it is strange that she should possess the Sumatra perfume."
"Other people can send the same perfume to England," retorted Freddy. "Penn isn't the sole person who has friends in Sumatra. Mrs. Jarsell, since she gave the scent to Miss Armour, may have friends in that island. Ask her."
"No," said Dan, very positively. "I shall ask no one until I make Penn speak out. In any case, I want to know why he told a lie."
"Perhaps he didn't."
"I'm jolly well sure that he did."
"Then, to put it plainly--you suspect Mrs. Jarsell?"
"To answer plainly, I don't. There can be no connection between two harmless old ladies living in these wilds and the murder of Sir Charles. Yet this confounded scent forms a link between the dead man, Mrs. Jarsell, and Penn." Laurance rubbed his chin reflectively. "It's odd, to say the least of it. I suppose you are certain the perfume is the same?"