"I can tell you," said Cyril quickly; "because of my father. Huxham knew my father in Nigeria, and as my father wished to get these jewels he feared lest he should force him to give them up. For this reason Huxham came down here and planted corn all round his house as a means of defence, and installed a search-light. He wished to be on his guard."
"Did your father intend murder?" asked the inspector, sharply.
"I really can't say."
"But he did," struck in Luke, who had been listening earnestly. "All that the young gent says is true, sir. I only followed, as I thought that there would be a row between Captain Huxham and—as I thought—Mr. Cyril. I waited outside the house, and then hearing loud voices in the study—in this place," said Tunks looking round, "I stole to the casement and peeped through that broken pane. They did not know that I was there."
"What became of Mr. Pence meanwhile?" asked Inglis suddenly.
"He was watching the house, but I think he went away and then came back."
Inglis nodded. "That is unsatisfactory. I must examine Mr. Pence later. You go on, Tunks, and tell us exactly what you saw."
Tunks settled down to his narrative. "I listened and heard all about the jewels and the death of Maxwell Faith and all about Miss Bella being his daughter. I saw by this time that Mr. Lister was not Mr. Cyril here, and I guessed from his likeness that he was Mr. Cyril's father. Mr. Lister wanted Captain Huxham to give up the jewels for some expedition, but the captain refused. They began to quarrel, and then the captain pulled out a big knife from a drawer of his desk and rushed on Mr. Lister. There was a struggle and Mr. Lister tried to pull out a revolver. At length Huxham got Mr. Lister down and cut his throat."
"Which would account for the quantity of blood found on the floor here when Huxham's body was found. I thought there was too much blood for one man's corpse to supply. Go on."
"Oh, it's terrible—horrible!" said Cyril, covering his face. "What did you do, Tunks? Why didn't you give the alarm?"