"I got this an hour ago," he said, "as soon as I learnt the truth from the locket, I have sent a note asking Vass to come here and see you. Then, by means of this warrant, I shall so play on his fears that he will confess the truth."
"And so fall out of the frying-pan into the fire," said Darrel cynically. "If he holds his tongue, you arrest him on suspicion; if he confesses, you arrest him on certainty. So, in either case, he is bound to go to gaol. Silence is golden in his case, Torry; he won't confess."
"He might not if he was a hardened criminal," said the detective coolly. "But the man is a weak, hysterical fool, alive with nerves. He wept at the news of Grent's death; he fainted on seeing the Blue Mummy. A man who has so little command over himself will not be difficult to coerce into confession."
"When is he to be here?"
Torry glanced at his watch. "Ten thirty," he said, "and it is almost that now. I say, Mr. Darrel, it was a lucky thought of mine that the tramp might have robbed the dead body."
"It was! What made you think of it?"
"Well, he stole the knife in the first place, so I judged he would help himself to whatever valuables he could find. It seems he did and pawned the locket he stole. Then he saw one of my handbills offering a reward, and turned up last night to tell me the truth. I went with him to the pawn-shop, redeemed the locket, paid my friend two pounds and congratulated myself that the initials on the locket implicated Vass."
"Are you sure the initials are his?"
"Quite sure. When I first met him I ascertained that his name was Gustavus, so G.V. can stand for nothing else than Gustavus Vass; the name is an uncommon one. Besides, he must have guessed that the unexpected visit of Donna Maria had to do with the transference of the money to Grent."
"Oh, oh!" said Frank, turning round from the mirror at which he was brushing his hair. "So you think the motive of the crime is robbery, not jealousy."