‘Not for what you think, Nolly, my boy. That’s where you’ve all been wrong, I guess. When that little affair was on and I bolted suddenly, you put two and two together and fancied I’d broken the law. Now the boot was on the other trotter. The law broke me.’
‘How?’
‘You know that my father had gone to America to prosecute the big lawsuit which was to make us all millionaires, and put me straight for ever?’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, he lost the day, and I went out at once to him.’
‘Good heavens, Marston! Don’t say that your mysterious departure was due to filial affection!’
‘No, I don’t. You wouldn’t believe me if I did. I went out to stop the old man making a fool of himself, and carry the case further still. I wanted something saved out of the fire for myself.’
‘Did you succeed?’
‘No. Got there to find the old man dead, and every blessed halfpenny of his property gone in the law-costs.’
‘You’ll excuse me, old fellow, if I suggest that there must have been another motive behind.’