Sir Clinton took no pains to conceal a sardonic smile.
“It won't do, Dr. Markfield,” he pointed out. “You might get off on that plea if it were only the bungalow business that you were charged with. But there's the murder of the maid at Heatherfield as well. You can't twist that into a self-defence affair. No jury would look at it for a moment.”
“You seem to know a good deal about it,” Markfield repeated thoughtfully.
“I suppose what you really wanted at Heatherfield was a packet of your love-letters to Mrs. Silverdale?” Sir Clinton asked.
Markfield confirmed this with a nod.
“That's all you have against me, I suppose?” he demanded after a pause.
Sir Clinton shook his head.
“No,” he said, “there's the affair of the late Mr. Whalley as well.”
Markfield's face betrayed neither surprise nor chagrin at this fresh charge.
“That's all, then?” he questioned again, with apparent unconcern.