“I can not believe that he would do such a thing,” said Godfrey. “He would not be so base.”
“I am not so sure of it,” said the astute lawyer. “What is more, I made a curious discovery to-day. The man in question pretends to be your friend. He gives his evidence with reluctance. Yet I noticed that when that knife was produced his face betrayed neither surprise nor emotion. Had he had your interests at heart, would he have been so callous? Answer me that! Now you have my reasons for arguing that he knew where the knife was, and also the man who had placed it there.”
“The suspicions you suggest are too horrible,” said Godfrey, rising and pacing the cell. “What possible reason could he have for doing me such an injury?”
“One never knows. There are some men who hate the man who is supposed to be their best friend, either because he, the friend, has been successful in money-making, in love, or perhaps he presumes him to be happier than himself. You are rich; he is poor. You have been successful in your profession; he has been a failure. His hatred, like hundreds, might have begun with jealousy and have terminated in this. I have known more unlikely things.”
“In that case what am I to do?”
“Leave it to me and to Burrell to arrange. If things were not going right, my experience teaches me that that astute gentleman would have shown signs of dissatisfaction before now. He has got his nose on the trail, you may be sure, and if I know anything about him, he will not leave it for a moment.”
“But do you think he will be able to prove my innocence?” asked Godfrey.
“All in good time, my dear sir, all in good time,” said the lawyer. “With me for your lawyer (pardon the boast), Rolland for your counsel, Dick Horsden and Braithwaite with him, and Burrell for the ferret that is to make the rabbits bolt, you could not be better served. For my own part, I wouldn’t mind making you a bet—and as a rule I am not a man who gambles—that the last-named gentleman has already acquired sufficient information to secure your return to Detwich with an unblemished character.”
“Then do so by all means,” said Godfrey. “I will take it with the greatest pleasure in the world.”