Brett surveyed the second telegram so intently that the detective inquired:

“How do you read that, sir?”

“Capella is securing copies of certificates—marriages, births, or deaths; perhaps all three. He is also getting hold of living witnesses.”

“Of what?”

“He will tell us himself. He is preparing a bombshell of sorts. It will explode here. Goodness only knows who will be blown up by it.”

He took the cover off the type-writer, seized a sheet of paper, and began to manipulate the keyboard with the methodical carefulness of one unaccustomed to its use.

He wrote:

“About Stowmarket. David Hume Frazer killed

cousin. Cousin talked girl in road.

Girl waited wood. David Hume Frazer met