The inspector flushed. "I don't know what you're getting at, sir, but if Brown isn't implicated in the murder he doesn't interest me."
"That I can readily believe. You never could see farther than the end of your own nose, could you? The murder, as I have said before, is likely to prove the least interesting feature of the whole case."
"Indeed, sir? Funny, isn't it? I was under the impression that the murder is the whole case."
"Try and disabuse your mind of that erroneous idea. Unless I am very much mistaken I am on to something far bigger and more fantastic than you've any of you imagined."
The inspector sat up at that. "Are you trying to hoax me, Mr. Amberley?" he demanded. "What is all this about?"
Amberley got up. "There is no point in my telling you, Inspector," he said. "It is a case where the police can't possibly act."
"H'm! Maybe the police could have a shot at it for all that."
"That is precisely what I am afraid of," returned Amberley. "I don't want the only piece of evidence that exists destroyed, you see."
"Look here, sir, you must have something to go on, or I suppose you'd hardly talk like this!"
Amberley smiled. "I have, Inspector. I've got one vital clue." He paused and his smile grew more sardonic. "Which," he added, "in its present condition is entirely valueless."