"He didn't. I possess only a copy. But that copy I sent down in charge of a certain person to Beechill. This person found that you were married as Anne Tyler to Lemuel Krill in the parish church, twenty miles from your birthplace."
Mrs. Krill drew a long breath of relief. "Well?" she demanded defiantly, "is there anything wrong about that?"
"No. But this person also made inquiries at Stowley about you. You are the daughter of a farmer."
"I mentioned that fact myself."
"Yes. But you didn't mention that your mother had been hanged for poisoning your father."
Mrs. Krill turned ghastly pale. "No," she said in a suffocating voice, "such is the case; but can you wonder that I forebore to mention that fact? My daughter knows nothing of that—nor did my husband—"
"Which husband do you mean, Krill or Jessop?" asked Hurd.
Mrs. Krill gasped and rose, swaying. "What do you mean, man?"
"This," said the detective, on his feet at once; "this person hunted out the early life of Anne Tyler at Stowley. It was discovered that Anne was the daughter of a woman who had been hanged, and of a man who had been murdered. Also this person found that Anne Tyler married a sailor called Jarvey Jessop some years before she committed bigamy with Lemuel Krill in Beechill Church—"
"It's a lie!" screamed Mrs. Krill, losing her self-control. "How dare you come here with these falsehoods?"