‘Oh, one of the gang, of course – evidently. When they discovered that he had double-crossed them.’
The girl was silent for a moment, then:
‘They were very quick,’ she said thoughtfully.
Abbershaw jerked his chin up. This was a point which it had never occurred to him to question.
‘What do you mean?’ he demanded.
Meggie repeated her former observation.
‘They were very quick,’ she said. ‘If the Colonel didn’t have a heart attack he was murdered when we were playing with the dagger. Before I had the thing in my hand, in fact. Did they see the old man part with the papers? And if so, why did they kill him and not Albert Campion?’
Abbershaw was silent. This point of view had not occurred to him. As far as he knew, apart from the single affair on the landing, they had not spotted Albert Campion at all.
‘Besides,’ said Meggie, ‘if you remember, Dawlish seemed to be surprised when something you said suggested that Coombe had double-crossed them.’
Abbershaw nodded: the incident returned to his mind. Meggie went on speaking, her voice very low.