“What is it this time?”
“Why, you remember those finger-prints of Prinsep’s that were on the club George was killed with. I know how they got there. When we were in the garden before dinner I saw Prinsep take down that club from the statue, and swing it about. He was showing it to—whom do you think?”
“Not Carter Woodman?”
“Yes, Woodman. That must have given him the idea of using the club. He may have remembered that it would probably have Prinsep’s finger-marks on it.”
“Yes, but if he used it afterwards it would have his marks too.”
“Not necessarily. Don’t you remember the police saying at the inquest that some of the marks were blurred, as if the club had been handled afterwards? That inspector fellow said he was sure the murderer had worn gloves. That’s it. Woodman must have worn gloves, and they blurred the marks. That shows that Woodman killed George as well as Prinsep.”
“Of course it all helps to make it likely; and I never thought John had done it. But it’s not proof, you know.”
“It may not be proof, but, by George, with the rest of the facts we have I think it’s good enough.”
“No, Bob, I don’t think it is good enough—for proof, I mean—unless we can prove that Carter was in Liskeard House that evening. If we could prove that, I agree that we could bring the whole thing home to him.”
“But we know he went out of the Cunningham, and lied about where he had been.”