"That would have been a clever thing for me to do," said Rebb, in a quiet way, "but I had not the brains to conceive such a plot, much less the cleverness to carry it out. I might, in a fit of rage, kill a man capable of defending himself. I certainly should never raise my hand to stab a defenceless woman, whatever provocation I might have."
"You were here about the time of the murder?" said Haskins, and he wrinkled his brow in perplexity. Rebb spoke very earnestly.
"I was--since Mrs. Geary has let the cat out the bag I may as well confess, and you will see how groundless your suspicions are. It was long after ten o'clock when I left the Devon Maid, and I took a lantern with me."
"Why did you go at all?"
"To search for your confounded canoe. Geary told me about it, and so did Bellaria, who learned where it was hidden from Mavis."
"Yes. I told Mavis. Well?"
"Well, I wanted to find it and break it up, so that you should no longer get across the pool and climb the wall. I walked over the hills, and lost my way for a time. It was close upon twelve o'clock when I got to the pool. I searched for the canoe and could not find it. I heard a shriek inside the grounds of this house----"
"And you went to see what it was?"
"Not at the moment. I knew that Bellaria, being always terrified, for reasons you need not know----"
"Pardon me, I know all about the Tána Society."