"I think you will be wise. Go on."
"Well, on that day of the murder Mrs. March came to me in a rage. She had heard through Frisco--he had spoken in one of his drunken fits--that Carr was going to disinherit her son. She went to see him from this house. I tried to stop her; but she would go. They had a furious quarrel in the afternoon, and Mrs. Marsh swore that she would kill Carr if he disinherited Stephen."
"She did not kill him in the afternoon?"
"No. Because he was alive after five o'clock. Someone saw him at the window of the tower. Well, Mrs. Marsh dined with me. After dinner she worked herself into a rage. Carr had laughed at her on that afternoon, and had said that he would do what he liked with his money. In fact from all she told me, he treated her like a brute; he was one you know Herrick," and Jim nodded, remembering the torture of the Indian.
"Stephen was to come for her," said the rector wearily; the telling of this story fatigued him. "Somewhere about nine o'clock she was to meet him at the Carr Arms, and take the bus back to Beorminster. After eight she went out. It was so early that I wanted her to stop. She refused. At nine Stephen arrived. He could not find his mother. She was not at the Carr Arms. I then guessed that she had gone to see Carr again. In my fear lest she might do something dreadful I blurted out my suspicions. At once Stephen understood what I meant. He went himself to 'The Pines;' I waited for some time. Then I was in such a state that I followed. The house was all ablaze, but I heard nothing. This was about half past nine or a quarter to ten. I went up as far as the door. On the steps I picked up that pistol--which I guessed had been used by Mrs. Marsh. I slipped it into my pocket. Then I returned home. I went also to the Carr Arms and learned that Stephen and his mother had caught the bus some time after nine o'clock, I tried to think that Mrs. Marsh had not shot the man. I returned here to think it out. Santiago was waiting for me. He had come by the last bus from Beorminster, and had been waiting since nine. In fact he came just after I went after Stephen. It was really a quarter past nine when he came."
"Do you think he had been to 'The Pines?' asked Herrick keenly.
"I do not know. But you can learn that from the busman who drove him here. I did not inquire myself. He had come to get me to take him to see Carr. I refused, and without thinking I threw the pistol on the table. I was much agitated, and he saw that. He got out of me that I had been to 'The Pines.' After looking at the pistol he said he would go to 'The Pines' himself. I refused to let him go. After a time I gave him some money and persuaded him to go. I drove him to Heathcroft station in my cart. He took the pistol with him. I did not notice that he had done so. In a day or two when the murder became known he wrote and accused me of being the criminal. I denied it. But he had read the report of the death and how the wound had been inflicted by an old-fashioned weapon. When he came here with Joyce he insisted that I was guilty. I said that I was not but would say nothing about Mrs. Marsh. It was this knowledge that he used to make me hold my tongue about the assault on Stephen. What could I do Herrick?" said Corn piteously. "Appearances were against me. Santiago could prove that I had the pistol. I had been to 'The Pines,' and I owed Colonel Carr money. Also there was my own story. Had I been arrested, all would have come out. No! I had to do what Santiago told me."
"Humph!" said Jim, "I can see your dilemma. And what about Mrs. Marsh? Did Stephen suspect her?"
"No. He told me that he had gone to 'The Pines' and looked at the house. He saw nothing and heard nothing. He therefore returned to the Carr Arms, and found his mother waiting for him. She said that he had missed her, and evidently invented a story which satisfied him. No Herrick, I do not think Stephen suspected his step-mother. But she shot the Colonel I am sure. She left my house in a rage and she several times threatened to kill him. Then she was not at the Carr Arms. After nine the man was shot."
Herrick nodded. "Did you ask Mrs. Marsh to explain?"