Dashwood turned the silver toy over in his hands for a moment. There was nothing to be gained by concealing the truth.
"I understand your insinuation," he said. "As a matter of fact, that box belongs to me, and, as I dare say you are aware, my initials are engraved upon it. The box is a novelty in its way; I bought it some years ago in America. Do you mean to say that this was found in the ashes of the fire?"
"It was, sir. I picked it up myself. The butler, Slight, recognised it as belonging to you. Now you will see why I came to you."
"Oh, of course. So your beautiful intelligence suggests that I had some hand in that fire. If you only knew the true position of affairs, you would know that I am the very last person in the world to want anything to happen to the Hall. But that is a detail which we may come to presently. Meanwhile, I am prepared to accept the responsibility of calling myself the owner of the box. I must have been careless enough to drop it and somebody picked it up--the somebody who tried to set fire to the Hall. I'm afraid that I can't tell you any more than that."
"All the same, I'm afraid I must go a little farther, sir," Drake said. "That box is yours and it was found in the ashes of the fire. It appears that some time before the fire broke out one of the servants at the Hall was called up to take a message to Mr. Mayfield, who is staying in a farmhouse not far from here. The servant's name is Walters. He went back to his quarters over the stables, and as it was a fine night and he did not feel in the least sleepy, he sat by the open window and smoked a cigarette. He says that a little before two--close to the time when the fire broke out--he saw somebody come from the direction of the house and cross the lawn. The figure was moving rapidly, and apparently desired to escape observation. When Walters was asked if he could recognise the figure in question, he said positively that he could. I asked him to give it a name, and, to make a long story short, he said it was you, sir."
There was no mistaking the dry suggestiveness in Drake's manner. He was not in the least apologetic now, he made his statement with the air of a man who is sure of his ground. Dashwood changed colour slightly.
"This is ridiculous," he cried. "The idea that I should have any motive for destroying the old house is out of the question. If you knew who I really am----"
"That is not the point, sir. The question is were you there?"
"Yes, I was," Dashwood said in a kind of sullen desperation. "I was out at that hour. The best thing I can do is to come as far as the Hall and have it out with Walters. I see that the time has come when I must tell the truth."