“ ‘What on earth——’ began the inspector, and then he glanced at Lenham. ‘I think you’d better sit still, Mr. Lenham,’ he said, quietly, ‘until we have heard what this gentleman has to say.’
“Lenham sat back in his chair with a venomous look at me. Then he laughed harshly.
“ ‘By all means, inspector,’ he remarked. ‘Only it is a little disconcerting to be cross-examined suddenly by a man who admits he is a thief.’
“As a matter of fact the man didn’t know how much I knew—or how little; and between ourselves it was deuced little. But, watching him closely, I knew I was right, and my only hope was to bluff him into some admission.
“ ‘Shall we endeavour to reconstruct the events of the night when Mr. Marley was murdered, Mr. Lenardi?’ I began, quietly. ‘That is your name, is it not?—and you are a Corsican.’
“ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘what if I am? I had a very good reason for changing my name.’
“ ‘Doubtless,’ I agreed. ‘Let us hope your reason will prove satisfactory to the inspector. May I suggest, however, unless you can supply a better one, that your reason was to avoid the notoriety which would inevitably arise if a foreigner came to stay in a small village like this? And you were particularly anxious to avoid any possibility of Mr. Marley knowing that a Corsican was in the neighbourhood.’
“He laughed sarcastically. ‘I think that I have already stated that I have never even seen Mr. Marley,’ he sneered.
“ ‘Oh!’ I remarked. ‘Then might I ask you, inspector, to have a look at this photograph? It is old and faded, but the faces are still clear.’
“I handed the photograph to the inspector, and with a sudden curse the Corsican whipped out a knife and sprang at me. He realised even then that the game was up, and his one thought was to revenge himself on me. But I’d been expecting some such move, and I’d got a revolver handy. Incidentally, revolver shooting is one of the few things I can do, and I plugged him through the forearm before he could do any damage.