The Phantom laughed. “You clothe the thing in such attractive phrasing that I almost wish I could plead guilty. But I didn’t kill Gage, and that’s all there is to it.”
“You still insist that Pinto did?”
“Until two or three hours ago I was firmly convinced of it.”
“Ah! Now we are getting down to facts. Until two or three hours ago you were certain Pinto was the murderer. Why?”
“Because at the time I felt sure that no one else could have committed the crime. The mysterious circumstances could be explained in no other way than on the assumption that Pinto was the perpetrator.”
“Exactly. Your logic was not at all bad. But I infer that within the last three hours you have changed your mind.”
“Not quite; I have merely modified my opinion. I am no longer positively certain that Pinto committed the murder.”
“Why?” A shrewd grin twisted the anthropologist’s lips. “What has caused you to modify your view—the tunnel?”
“Yes, the tunnel. The existence of the tunnel makes it possible for someone other than Pinto to have committed the murder. It suggests another hypothesis, in the light of which all the circumstances are explainable. Without the tunnel I should be morally certain of Pinto’s guilt; with it in existence I am no longer sure.”
“Bravo, my friend! You are doing very well for an amateur detective. Your idea is that the murderer entered Gage’s bedchamber by way of the tunnel and took his departure the same way. Do you know,” with a broad grin, “that I thoroughly agree with you? The only point of difference between us is the identity of the human mole.”