“Are you certain of your grounds for judgment, Mr. Hunter?” Charles Matthewson asked. “I’m a little afraid you underrate his ability.”
“Why, what’s he found out in his fortnight’s work?” demanded Hunter.
“That’s just what I’d like to find out, but can’t,” said Matthewson. “Whatever he’s after, he acts as if he’d get it first and do his crowing afterwards.”
“Trafford’s at the top, so far as ability is concerned,” said Henry; “and the next best man’s Cranston. If you’re going to set a man at work, you’d better take him. There are two things for him to do: First, keep track of Trafford and let him give us notice quick if he hears of the papers; second, work up the story of Wing’s birth. We’ve got to keep that more in the public eye. I can’t for the life of me see anything in it to lead to the murder, but the public think there’s some connection between the two, and we mustn’t let them lose sight of it.”
“But there must have been some motive in the murder,” Hunter affirmed.
“If we can get hold of the papers, we’ll let the motive take care of itself,” Charles interposed. “To think, I was in Millbank that very night—almost at the very moment! If I’d known—I’d have found out what was in that room before any detective had a chance!”
He looked at Hunter with an implication of failure. He would gladly have defended himself, but he remembered that he might have been on the scene before McManus, and that he had dawdled over his breakfast and let the opportunity slip. No one would have refused him admission any more than McManus had been refused. How many anxious hours he might have saved himself!
As a result of the conference, Cranston was sent for and put on the case. He listened to his instructions and then said:
“I’ve got to know what you want, if I’m to work with any advantage to you or myself. You want to find out who Wing’s mother was—but that’s incidental. You want to know who murdered Wing—but that’s incidental. What is it I’m to do really?”
Again Henry Matthewson showed his superior masterfulness by deciding and acting.