"She knows nothing of the connection of this with the murder--and she has said nothing for I made her give me her word that she would not. No one but you, and I, and she are aware of its existence.
"Roper--what of Roper?"
"He knows nothing about it. If you knew how he hated Marshall, you would be glad that he is ignorant. For he would certainly prosecute if he got hold of this paper."
"I doubt if he could now, seeing that your father--who alone could give evidence as to the falsity of the signature--is dead. But why does he hate Marshall so bitterly?"
"Well, it appears that Roper had a daughter who fell in love with him she would have married him, and he had given her every reason to believe that he would. But, of course, he stopped at that, and she died of a broken heart. I don't think there was anything scandalous about the affair--nothing worse than the playing fast and loose with the affections of the unhappy girl."
"He always was a scoundrel. I paid him a large sum to leave my firm, as I feared he would do something criminal some day. Then he married my sister. I begged her to give him up; but she was headstrong, and insisted. Great Heavens!" he cried. "And he married her very shortly after he had committed this crime. Yet I doubt very much if he would have had the courage to kill Jenner."
"Will you tell me what led you to suspect him?"
"In the first place, from the circumstances of his return on that night; in the second, these links."
"How is that? I should like to know all from the beginning."
"Well, Marshall was staying here on the night of the crime. He looked out of sorts; but he made some excuse--I forget what. After dinner he said he was going out for a walk; it was wet and misty, and I tried to dissuade him. My sister had gone to bed with a headache. I was alone, and, although I never liked him, I wanted to talk to him. But he insisted upon going. About nine he returned, knocked at the library window--that French window over there--and I let him in, torn and muddy and wild with fear! He said that he had been set upon by robbers--footpads. The next morning I heard of the murder, and I spoke to him about it, but he swore that he had not seen Jenner."