"It does not sound reasonable."
"A day or two ago I would have said the same. But things are taking on a different aspect. And with their change, Morris will change. He had no idea of what was to come, or he would not have done what he has done."
"No criminal would," said Pendleton.
Ashton-Kirk shrugged his shoulders at this, but made no direct reply.
"And now if these newspapers, with all their pointed references to Edyth Vale, do not make the man come forward," he went on, "what is about to happen—say within the next forty-eight hours—will be sure to do so."
Pendleton turned a surprised look upon him.
"You think, then, that something unusual is about to happen?"
"I know there is," was the quiet reply. "To-night, old chap, has been most prolific in results. It has indicated why the murder was done; it has suggested the identity of the actual murderer; it has even pointed out the spot upon which we shall finally take him."
"You really mean all that?" cried Pendleton, incredulously.
"I do."