"I've no doubt about it," Frobisher admitted. "I have known such cases."
"Then here we have a motive for the crime. Let me refer to your own case for a moment. What do you suppose Mr. Manfred was doing in your conservatory at the time he died? He refused to dine under plea of a headache; he was supposed to be lying down, and yet he was found dead near your flowers. Do you think he was after one of them?"
"The inference is a fair one," Frobisher said, guardedly.
Counsel smiled as he stroked his moustache. He was getting to the point now.
"Did you or do you suspect Mr. Manfred was after a particular plant?" he asked.
Frobisher started. He saw the trap instantly. The smiling little man with the bland questions knew a great deal more than he had told as yet. He was not so much asking questions as inviting the witness to make admissions. He had been primed doubtless by Mrs. Benstein and Denvers. The lump in the back of Frobisher's throat grew large, the easy smile flickered and died on his face.
"I have a score that are almost unique," he said. "Under the circumstances——"
Counsel waved the point aside. His experience told him that he was alarming his witness. He started on another tack which was destined to be even more disturbing to Frobisher's peace of mind.
"Let me put it another way," he said in his silkiest manner. "We are pretty certain that a valuable orchid was stolen from Streatham. You tell me that commercial morality among collectors is not high, and that a plant like that would be a marketable commodity. Would you buy it, for example?"
"I would go a long way in that direction," Frobisher said with a touch of his old cynicism.