“But the disgrace to the name——”
“To Sorley’s name, not to Miss Inderwick’s. Besides when she marries you she will change her name. It is no use being sentimental any longer, my boy,” said Latimer resolutely. “The man must be punished. I’m off to see the inspector, and tell him what I know.”
“But Dick won’t it be best to question Miss Grison first, and learn if she really has heard Jotty’s story.”
“I am quite sure she has,” said the reporter emphatically, “else she would not have broken her promise to Moon. The matter of the peacock was kept silent so that the assassin, feeling safe, might betray himself—as he has done, by the way to you. Miss Grison, learning from the boy that Sorley is guilty, has taken the opportunity of making the story as public as possible so that the man can’t escape.”
“He may see the papers and take warning,” suggested Alan. “I expect this tale will be in every paper in the kingdom to-morrow.”
“All the more reason that I should see Moon at once. I am not going to dilly-dally any more, Alan, but do my duty, as I expect you to do yours.”
“I can’t blame you. Go and see Moon.”
Latimer hesitated at the door. “You won’t wire to Sorley, or send that paper to him, I suppose.”
“No. If the man is guilty and it certainly looks as though he were, he must be punished. I shall not interfere, unpleasant as the scandal will be for Marie. Go and do your duty, Dick, by telling Moon, and I shall do mine by keeping perfectly quiet.”
Latimer argued no longer but took his departure, leaving Alan much disturbed in his own mind. And no wonder. Marie did not love her uncle, who had always treated her with indifference, and had made use of her money for his own purposes. Still, it would be a terrible shock for her to hear that he had murdered the brother of Miss Grison, and of course the shame of having a relative hanged would be great. And Fuller did not see how Mr. Sorley could escape the gallows, since the evidence on the whole was so very decisive. At the best he could only defend himself by putting forward the story about Miss Grison, and that was but a weak line to take up.