Alan nodded, and neither refused or agreed to accept the man as his client, but intimated that he was ready to give his attention to the confession. Morad-Bakche at once took exception to the word.
“It is not a confession I wish to make, sir, but merely a statement to show how I came to learn about the matter we are discussing.”
“Oh, I beg your pardon,” said Fuller ceremoniously, “go on please!”
Bakche frowned at the irony of his tone, but made no further objection to relating what he knew.
“My explanation as to how I came to Thimble Square was not wholly true, Mr. Fuller,” he said abruptly.
“So I thought at the time?”
“Why did you think so?” asked Bakche quickly.
“Because I got it into my head that you were after the Inderwick fetish, although when you spoke I did not know that it was the Begum of Kam who had given away the jewels. That fact I learned later. However, it struck me that if you had come on some such errand, you went for that reason to Miss Grison’s boarding-house, and not because your Ceylon friend recommended it.”
Bakche nodded. “Very creditable to your intelligence,” he said in a patronising manner. “To be plain, sir, I learned the story which is set forth in the newspaper, from some family documents.”
“As I thought,” murmured Fuller softly.