"No; I am telling you the truth."
"But did you know Agstone?" demanded Shepworth, staring.
"Oh yes. He was my brother."
"What! What! What!" quacked Martaban like an excited duck.
"Go slow, old son of a gun," said the doctor, smoking calmly. "I told Lord Prelice yonder of my relationship, and there is no need for me to explain the same to you, beyond stating the fact that Steve Agstone was my brother. He knew of my address in London, and came to see me on the day after the murder."
"Why didn't you give him in charge?" asked the lawyer.
Horace surveyed the red face turned towards him in an aggravatingly calm way. "For two reasons," he grunted—"firstly, Agstone was my brother, and dog doesn't eat dog; secondly, I had no reason to believe that he had anything to do with the death."
"But the knife which he brought to Mr. Shepworth's flat——"
"Oh yes!" Horace glanced at the two young men and chuckled; "but you see there was no mention of the knife when Steve came to see me. Still, I must admit that he feared lest he should be accused of the crime."
"Oh!" cried Mona, sitting bolt upright, "then he did not accuse me again?"