“Jimmy O’Loughlin, I hope and trust,” said Mr. Goddard. “He’s been dragged into this business by everybody that has said anything. It’s always Jimmy O’Loughlin told me this or Jimmy O’Loughlin told me that. If he’s gone off himself now it serves him jolly well right.”
“It’s not Mr. O’Loughlin,” said Miss Blow, “but the man Red’s own servant, an Englishman. This man used to drive the motor car into Clonmore to do the marketing for the party at Rosivera.”
“At Jimmy O’Loughlin’s shop, of course,” said Mr. Goddard.
“He did so for the last time the day before Dr. O’Grady’s disappearance. The inference is perfectly plain. The man was mortally wounded. Dr. O’Grady was decoyed to Rosivera because his services as a medical man were required. Then he too, to secure his silence, was foully murdered.”
Mr. Goddard gasped. For the second time Miss Blow’s logic took away his breath. He tried to speak, but failed. Three times he got as far as uttering the word “but” and then stuck fast. Lord Manton, who remained comparatively calm, offered a mild criticism.
“There is just one point,” he said, “in the course of your extremely able and lucid statement, on which I should like to have a word of explanation. I have no doubt that you have thought the matter out carefully, and will be able to meet my difficulty at once. You say—and of course I don’t contradict you—that Mr. Red, I mean the man Red, of course, first tried to murder his own servant and then sent for Dr. O’Grady to cure him. Now, why should a man get a doctor for the person he’s trying to kill? Wouldn’t it have been simpler—I mean to say, do murderers generally summon medical assistance for their victims?”
“I am not concerned with his reasons for acting as he did,” said Miss Blow. “I am dealing simply with what has occurred, with plain facts. Now, perhaps, you will do your duty, Mr. Goddard, and arrest the murderers.”
“But,” said Mr. Goddard, “you haven’t given us any evidence at all. You’ve spun out a lot of wild hypotheses, supported by information given you by Jimmy O’Loughlin, who is the biggest liar in Connacht. It’s perfectly absurd to suppose——”
“I join with this lady,” said Miss Farquharson, “with this lady whose name, as I understand, is Miss Blow, in demanding the arrest of the suspected persons.”
“Oh, no, no,” wailed Mrs. Dick. “Don’t arrest them. Let us forgive them; but bring Richard back to me. It’s cruel, cruel. I can’t live—oh, I can’t——”