"What of that. Grent was ruined by speculation when he died. He had no money."
"I beg your pardon; he had ten thousand pounds!"
"The money of the society; you can't prove that he had it!"
"I hope to do so soon," retorted Torry, nettled by the sneer.
Blake rose to his feet, and put on his hat. "I shall argue no more," he said wrathfully. "You believe that the lady, who is to be my wife, is connected with these crimes; so, to me, they become a personal matter. I wanted to assist in finding the assassin out of sheer idleness; now I intend to discover the truth, in order to clear the character of Miss Hargone."
"I hope you will be successful," murmured Darrel.
"Certainly I shall be successful," retorted Blake, pausing at the door. "I am convinced that the Blue Mummy Society killed these two wretched people: and, I tell you, Manuel is the criminal. When you see me again, Mr. Torry, I shall bring you such proofs of his guilt that even you will be convinced. In the meantime, I wish you every success; but I warn you that you are working on wrong lines. Leave off suspecting ladies who are innocent, and devote yourself, as I intend to do, to hunting down the iniquitous Association of the Mummy. Then you will learn the truth. Good-day!"--and, finishing thus abruptly, Blake put on his hat, and took himself off, leaving Torry and Darrel looking at each other in some doubt.
"There is a good deal of sense in what he says," remarked Darrel. "After all, the Blue Mummy is the main clue."
"Clue or not," said Torry, "I know that Manuel is innocent."
"How do you know that?"