"You murdered my father," shivered Ida, not daring to meet the cold eyes which rested on her prostrate form.
"Martin Dimsdale was not your father."
"You--you--you murdered him."
"Yes, I did."
"What!" Towton could scarcely believe his ears. "You admit the crime?"
Frances yawned ostentatiously. "If I admit that I am The Spider it follows that I must have murdered Dimsdale."
"Well, no," replied Towton, truthfully and justly. "You may have employed Hokar to strangle him."
"That is very good of you," said Frances satirically, "but I don't place my own sins on the shoulders of others. Hokar taught me how to strangle in the Thug fashion certainly, but he did not kill Dimsdale. I did."
"Still, I don't believe that the murder was premeditated," insisted Towton.
"Upon my word," said Miss Hest good-humouredly and as coolly as though she were gossiping over a cup of tea, "one would think you were counsel for the defence. No, you are right. I did not intend to murder Dimsdale. Having got you out of the way----"