"Does my mother know where he is?"
"No. She has not set eyes on him since she left Horriston."
"It is strange that he should have suppressed so important a piece of evidence," said Claude meditatively, "devoted as he was to my father. I should have thought he would have done his best to bring the murderer to justice."
"Perhaps he did not know who the murderer was. However, there is no doubt that the scarfpin must have told him something about which he judged it wise to hold his tongue. Perhaps Miss Paynton can enlighten us on the subject."
"Then she must know Denis Bantry."
"So I think," said Tait thoughtfully. "The episode of the scarfpin was only known to your mother, to Hilliston, and to Bantry. Jenny Paynton does not know your mother, who denied all knowledge of her. She cannot be acquainted with Hilliston, or he certainly would not have let her make use of the affair for Linton's book, even if he had told her. There only remains Denis Bantry. Now, I know that Jenny has lived all her life at Thorston, so if she saw this man anywhere it must have been there."
"Is there anyone in the neighborhood you think is he?" asked Larcher, greatly excited.
"None that I can call to mind. But then, I don't know the neighborhood very well. We must make a thorough exploration of it when we are down there."
"Certainly. But it seems to me that the only one who can put us in the right track is the girl."
"True enough. I only hope she will be amenable to reason."