"Dear! dear! dear!" Morgan scratched his head, and looked bewildered. "I never came across anything so extraordinary in my life. If Miss Durham was shut up here--and everyone knows that she was strictly guarded on account of her mania--how came you to see her?"
"In a rather peculiar way, Mr. Inspector, but what I tell you can be substantiated by my friend and legal adviser, Mr. Ian Roy Macandrew." And after thus guarding himself from the tale being received with disbelief Gerald detailed the finding of the cylinder, and his subsequent dealings with the matter.
Morgan gaped and stared, not knowing what to make of so extraordinary a story. "Then this young lady was not crazy?"
"No," said Gerald positively. "I am certain she was in complete possession of her senses."
"Then why was she shut up?"
"You had better ask Major Rebb that," said Haskins dryly, "he will be here soon. In proof of the truth of my story, you can look for the canoe, which is hidden in the undergrowth on the other side of the pool below the river wall."
Morgan nodded, with his pale blue eyes fixed on the speaker. "Do you know anything of this murder?" he asked pointedly.
Gerald laughed shortly. "Are you going to accuse me?" he demanded.
"Certainly not, Mr. Haskins; certainly not. But, seeing that your canoe is near the house, and you confess to having paid secret visits."
"I understand." Gerald cut him short. "People will talk. Let them. I can prove an alibi with the help of Mrs. Jennings and three or four of her servants. I slept last night at the Prince's Head, Silbury, and was in bed a few minutes after ten. By the way, can you tell me when this crime was committed?"