“That’s true, of course, when one thinks of it,” Westenhanger admitted, dismissing the matter. “Now there’s another point that puzzled me. Why did you suddenly put the Talisman back into the cabinet last night?”
This time it was Eric who took the matter up.
“Look at the position from our point of view, Westenhanger. The thing was stolen in the small hours, that morning. I was round the house in the earlier part of the night, watching to see that Helga came to no harm. By the way, Douglas saw me writing a note to Morchard, enclosing a cheque for my losses; and I think Wraxall must have seen me leaving it in the hall for Morchard to get in the morning.”
“You seem to know a lot of details,” commented Westenhanger.
“Freddie Stickney has his uses,” Eric explained. “He gave my uncle a full and embroidered account of all that went on at that inquiry of his. Well, we come to the next morning. Of course my uncle and I went straight to the cabinet; and at once I knew the thing had been stolen by a left-handed person. It was obvious to me, because I’m left-handed myself, as you know.”
He smiled ironically.
“You and Douglas were very ingenious, Westenhanger; but as my own mind was running on parallel lines, I hadn’t much trouble in seeing what you were after with your coin-counting and all the rest of it.”
Westenhanger felt the home-thrust; but Eric seemed to attach no importance to the matter.
“I had to go up to town that morning to pay in a cheque to meet the one I’d given to Morchard, before he could present it. Same case as Miss Cressage, in fact. So we decided to postpone investigation till I got back in the afternoon. As you know, I got scuppered in town—twisted my ankle—and couldn’t get back for a day or two. My uncle didn’t make much of a success at the sleuth business. He was quite content to wait till I turned up again and picked out the missing left-hander. You see, we had a pull over you people in the fact that I’m left-handed myself, and so I know the finer points in which a left-hander differs from the normal. We had Mrs. Caistor Scorton picked out in a very short time after I came home again—a much shorter time than you took over the business, naturally, owing to our handicap of special knowledge.”
He sat down and began to fill his pipe.