“And to the main staircase. Besides, Mr. Wraxall said he heard no one pass his door.”
“How could he?” demanded Freddie triumphantly. “You said she was wearing bedroom slippers. She wouldn’t make a sound.”
“Do you know, Mr. Stickney,” Mrs. Caistor Scorton commented in a colourless tone, “you seem to have an unwholesome mind, if I may say it without offence.” Her voice became indignant. “You know precious little about girls if you think Eileen Cressage would raise money in that particular way. I’m not talking about morality; I’m speaking of fastidiousness. If you’d suggested Douglas Fairmile, it might have been credible; but it’s quite beyond believing if you drag in Mr. Morchard. She simply wouldn’t dream of it. There are some things a girl of that type won’t do; and a cash bargain with Mr. Morchard’s one of them.”
“Very well,” said Freddie, sullenly, “you can have the other alternative if you prefer it.”
“It’s far more likely; I can tell you that,” declared Mrs. Caistor Scorton, coldly.
“Well, let’s leave her alone and go on to the rest.”
Mrs. Caistor Scorton nodded an abrupt consent.
“Wraxall’s the next on the list,” Freddie went on, recovering his good humour in the eagerness of his dissection. “I’ve picked up some facts about him too. He came here for one purpose, and one purpose only. Do you know what that was? To get the Talisman for his collection. That’s all he’s here for. Now I found out—no matter how—that on the night of the storm he approached old Dangerfield and offered to buy the thing. Offered a gigantic price for it. It didn’t come off. They wouldn’t sell. So there he was, knowing he’d failed to get what he wanted. You know what these collectors are? Sort of monomaniacs on their hobby.”
“Are you suggesting that Mr. Wraxall took it? Absurd!”
“I’m not suggesting anything. I’m simply marshalling the evidence. What is there? We know Wraxall was out and about in the house for the best part of the night. What made Eric Dangerfield come down from his room? Perhaps he heard Wraxall wandering round near the foot of his stair and frightened him off the first attempt on the Talisman. Perhaps Wraxall came back again and had a more successful try. All we know is that the motive was there; the opportunity was there; the theft was committed. Draw your own inference.”