"Was she at the house?"
"Yes, and I was waiting there for the return of Anchor. I left the house and went to your rooms, Mr. Jarman, where Mrs. Anchor said her husband had gone. I saw the shot fired, and saw also that Sakers fled, pursued by you. When the street was quiet I came to see the body, and got the papers from the breast-pocket."
"But what about the Chinaman, Lo Keong, who stabbed him?"
"It was not a Chinaman," said Tamaroo, quietly. "I stabbed him."
"You?" Jarman was beginning to see the connection between the San Francisco crime and the Sand Lane murder.
"Yes, I," said Tamaroo, perfectly calm and collected, while Frank shivered. "Anchor was a traitor. He was betraying a sacred trust. When I took the papers he opened his eyes. I saw that he was still alive, so I stabbed him."
Jarman jumped up, and even Frank recoiled from the negro. "You had no right to kill the man," said Eustace, hoarsely.
"I did not. The shot was a fatal one. I simply stabbed him to make sure. You need not rebuke me, Mr. Jarman. I did it then and I would do it again."
"Did you do it again?" asked Frank, remembering the death of Starth.
"You are thinking of Sand Lane. Yes, sir, it was I who stabbed Starth."