“Darrell, I’d sooner be torn to pieces than be such a wretch,” he declared, vehemently.
“I believe you now, Joe, but must confess that up to this very hour things looked black for you.”
“How was that?”
“Circumstances were against you.”
“Tell me all, Eric—everything.”
The detective sees no reason why he should not. He believes in this man thoroughly now, and would trust him through everything.
So he begins and tells him all.
Joe’s head rests upon his hand—the detective could not see his face, but he knew how it worked with feeling, and when he described how Lillian was dreadfully shocked when she heard of the bal masque and Joe’s apparent presence there, he was not at all surprised to see a large tear drop upon the arm of the chair.
With tears in his eyes Joe looked up.