"What was Lanwin doing when you left?"
"Fiddling with his herbs. He came and shut the window after I had gone, and shouted out a word or two as I departed."
"Do you suspect anyone of the crime?"
Haken shrugged his shoulders. "Unless it was Jadby—no," he replied thoughtfully. "Jadby was in London, and did not return until later. You heard his evidence in Court."
"Then Agstone must be guilty."
"Agstone certainly hated his master," said Haken.
"Why," Prelice looked astonished, "I understood that Agstone was devoted to Sir Oliver."
"So Lanwin said, and everyone believed. But the fact is—as I learned from Madame Marie—that Agstone was Lanwin's slave. Sir Oliver knew something about him, which he used as a threat, and so kept him in bondage. Lanwin was not a pleasant character," ended the city man, twirling his cigar.
"Oh," Prelice sunk his chin in his breast, and thought. He knew well enough that so far as the evidence of the knife was concerned, Agstone could not possibly be guilty. Nevertheless, since Agstone had brought the missing will to his brother—and the assassin could only have procured that will—it would seem that the old sailor, after all, had struck the blow. But why had he tried to put the blame on Mona both by placing the knife in her hand and by accusing her? "Did Madame Marie say that Agstone hated Mona?" asked Prelice, raising his head.
"No! On the contrary, I understand that Agstone liked Miss Chent because she was kind to him. Sir Oliver, however, was of a jealous disposition, and Agstone was afraid to display his liking."