“But even you can’t prove it.”
“Not yet; but it will be proved. And now I come to a third point. You remember that written message that was found in the garden near George Brooklyn’s body—the scrap of paper you picked up. It was in Prinsep’s writing.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“Have you thought any more about that scrap of paper, or have you just assumed that it was a request by Prinsep that George Brooklyn should meet him in the garden?”
“There didn’t seem to be much to be gleaned from it.”
“There I think you are wrong. I want to know exactly when that piece of paper was found, and by whom.”
“We found it in the garden that morning, when we were looking for clues after finding George Brooklyn’s body.”
“Who actually found it?”
“I suppose I did. No, I remember now, it was Carter Woodman who directed my attention to it. It was lying in a corner of the summer-house—the place they call ‘the temple.’ ”
“My dear inspector,” said the superintendent excitedly, “do you realise the significance of what you have just said. Woodman took good care that you should discover that piece of paper, because he had put it there for you to find.” The superintendent said these last words slowly, and with very great emphasis.