"Explain yourself."
"He said that if he couldn't come himself to see me again he would send his wooden hand."
The coroner looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Mr. Strode," said Mask primly, "talked to me about some money he wished to place in my keeping. I was to give it back to him personally, or when he sent the wooden hand. I understood from what he hinted that there was a chance he might get into trouble. But he explained nothing. He always spoke little and to the point."
"And have you got this money?"
"No. Mr. Strode didn't leave it with me."
"Then why did he remark about his wooden hand?"
"I expect he intended to leave the money with me when he returned from Wargrove. So it would seem that he did not expect anything to happen to him on his visit to his native place. If he had expected a tragedy, he would have left the money; and the wooden hand would have been the token for me to give it."
"To whom, sir?"
"To the person who brought the wooden hand."