“Mr. Justice is evidently ready to go any length to avenge somebody—and that somebody can hardly have been young Hassendean, judging from what we've heard about his character.”
Sir Clinton refused the gambit offered by the Inspector.
“Mr. Justice is a very able person,” he observed, “even though he does make a mistake now and again, as in this last move.”
“You said you'd some idea who he was, sir?” Flamborough said with an interrogative note in his voice.
The Chief Constable showed no desire to be drawn. He glanced rather quizzically at his subordinate for a moment before speaking.
“I'll give you the points which strike me in that connection, Inspector; and then you'll be just as well placed as I am myself in the matter of Mr. Justice. First of all, if you compare the time of publication of the morning newspapers with the time, at which Mr. Justice's telegram was collected from the pillar-box, I think it's fairly evident that he didn't depend on the journalists for his first information about the affair. Even the Ivy Lodge news wasn't printed until after he had despatched his message.”
“That's true, sir,” Flamborough admitted.
His manner showed that he expected a good deal more than this tittle of information.
“Therefore he must have had some direct information about the bungalow business. Either he was on the spot when the affair occurred, or else he was told about it almost immediately by someone who was on the spot.”
“Admitted,” the inspector confirmed.