"It was then necessary to wait until the ink in Miss Crayne's pen had become exhausted, and she had to replenish her supply of paper from her father's study. After that discovery was inevitable."
"But suppose she had denied it?" questioned the inspector.
"There was the ink which she alone used, and which I could identify," was the reply.
"Why did you ask Gray to be present?" enquired Freynes.
"As his name had been associated with the scandal it seemed only fair," remarked Malcolm Sage, then turning to Inspector Murdy he said, "I shall leave it to you, Murdy, to see that a proper confession is obtained. The case has had such publicity that Mr. Blade's innocence must be made equally public."
"You may trust me, Mr. Sage," said the inspector. "But why did the curate refuse to say anything?"
"Because he is a high-minded and chivalrous gentleman," was the quiet reply.
"He knew?" cried Freynes.
"Obviously," said Malcolm Sage. "It is the only explanation of his silence. I taxed him with it after the girl had been taken away, and he acknowledged that his suspicions amounted almost to certainty."
"Yet he stayed behind," murmured the inspector with the air of a man who does not understand. "I wonder why?"