"But might not that finger have been bent?" said Mr. Egerton.
"Not unless it bent in the middle of the second joint," replied Cousins; "but the matter was quite clear, sir; and one has nothing to do but look at it to satisfy themselves that a part of the finger was wanting; and what is oddest of all, that it has not been taken off at the joint. All I saw besides was, that the fellow who cut the old man's throat, must have gone away with his pantaloons very bloody; for he did it kneeling, and there is just a clear spot where his knee and part of his leg kept the blood from going over the floor."
"Indeed! That may serve some purpose, too!" said Dr. Wilton; "but did you find no more steps or marks of any other person."
"Oh, plenty of steps, sir!" replied the officer. "There were all the dirty feet of the coroner's inquest. But I think--though I'm not quite so sure of that--that there must have been somebody left below to keep watch, while the others went up to do the job. You see, sir, there is in one place of the passage floor a fresh deal, and I can trace upon that deal the marks of a shoe with large nails in it, going backwards and forwards, the matter of twenty times. Now, I hear that the deal was put in not a week ago, and all the folks here agree, that the old man never let a person with nails in his shoes twenty times into his house in all his life; so it looks like as if that were the only time and way in which it could get so often marked."
The two magistrates looked at each other, and Mr. Egerton answered, "Your suspicion is a shrewd one. Cousins; but now, tell us sincerely, from all that you have seen and heard, do you think that Captain Delaware has been one of those concerned?"
"Why really, sir, I cannot say!" answered the officer; "but to tell the truth--though there is no knowing after all--nevertheless--not to speak for a certainty, you know--but still, I should think not."
"You are now speaking to us in confidence, you know, Cousins," said Dr. Wilton; "and, indeed, we are altogether acting extra-officially in regard to the murder, though we think it may connect itself with the other affair. Tell us, therefore, why you judge it was not Captain Delaware."
"Why, sir, that is difficult to say," replied the officer. "But first and foremost, do you see, it strikes me that the job was done by as knowing a hand as ever was on the lay--one that has had a regular apprenticeship like. Well, as far as I can hear, that does not match the Captain. Then, next, whoever did it, has got in upon the sly, by means of the girl, whether she be an accessory or not. At all events, she has gone off with her 'complices.--She's never murdered--never a bit of her, take my word for that! Then you see, sir, when I had done with Ryebury, I went away to Emberton Park House; and though there was a mighty fuss to get in, all the family being gone, yet I managed it at last, and got a whole heap of the Captain's old boots and shoes, and measured them with the footmarks, and on oath I could prove that none of them--neither those up, nor those down stairs--the marks I mean--ever came off his foot."
"Why, it would seem to me, that what you have said, would go very far to exculpate him altogether," said Dr. Wilton.
"Ay, sir! But that is a mighty rum story about the notes," answered the officer. "It would make a queer case for the 'sizes, any how. Nevertheless, I don't think him guilty; and if he would explain about the money, all would be clear enough--but that story of his won't go; and if he sticks to it and is caught, he'll be hang'd if Judge ----tries him. He'll get off if it come before Sir ----. He did well enough to slip his head out of the collar any way."