"Besides, he knew exposure to the frost would be very dangerous for you; you told him you had been ill," Lucy interposed.
"I did," Lawrence agreed. "Of course if the fellow had wanted to make an end of me, it's obvious that he took a clever line; but people don't do that kind of thing for nothing. Suppose he was a friend of Daly's, it certainly wouldn't have suited the latter's plans."
"That," said Mrs. Stephen, "is what Lucy and I thought. You can be frank, Mr. Foster, because we know Lawrence's story."
"He was very wise to tell it you," Foster replied, and turned to his partner. "You imagined that Daly only wanted to extort money? Well, my explanation is that he had another object. We'll go back to the night Fred Hulton was shot. You thought you saw the watchman in the passage; was he far in front?"
"Perhaps a dozen yards; it's a long passage."
"He was going towards the office and stopped at the door, with his back to the light?"
"Yes; if he'd gone in I would have seen his face."
"And the remark you made indicated that you thought him the watchman ?"
"Suggested it," said Lawrence thoughtfully. "There might have been a doubt."
"Exactly! The man saw you. The light shone out from the office behind him."