"Miss Norman has been doing some detective business on her own account," he said, smiling. "Hullo, who is this?"
He made this remark, because Mrs. Purr, sitting in a corner of the room with red eyes, rose and dropped a curtsey.
"I'm called to tell you what I do tell on my Bible oath," said Mrs. Purr, with fervor.
"Mrs. Purr can give some valuable evidence," said Paul, quickly.
"Oh, can she? Then I'll hear what she has to say later. First, I must clear the ground by telling you and Miss Norman what I have discovered at Christchurch."
So Mrs. Purr, rather unwillingly, for she felt the importance of her position, was bundled out of the room, and Hurd sat down to relate his late adventures. This he did clearly and slowly, and was interrupted frequently by exclamations of astonishment from his two hearers. "So there," said the detective, when finishing, "you have the beginning of the end."
"Then you think that Mrs. Krill killed her husband?" asked Paul, dubiously.
"I can't say for certain," was the cautious reply; "but I think so, on the face of the evidence which you have heard. What do you say?"
"Don't say anything," said Sylvia, before Paul could reply. "Mr. Hurd had better read this paper. It was found by Deborah in an old box belonging to my father, which was brought from Gwynne Street."
She gave the detective several sheets of blue foolscap pinned together and closely written in the shaky handwriting of Aaron Norman. Hurd looked at it rather dubiously. "What is it?" he asked.