“Yes, there is more behind,” he said slowly, nodding his head. “There is, for instance, Nora Lepley behind. She and Mary Grainger both attended the High School in Midlington and have been for years inseparable friends. Nora frequently spent weeks at a time with the Graingers at Midlington and apparently had the run of the shop. She goes frequently to see the old man even now. She was there one day last week. Now suppose—well, Nora Lepley could have got the prussic acid that way.”
“It is certainly one to you,” I agreed, slowly and thoughtfully.
“I have something else,” Pepster went on, taking out his wallet.
“More anonymous letters?” I queried.
“Yes, two.”
He handed them across to me. One was a fragment of blue paper, on which was printed in red ink:
THOYNE IS STILL AT
LIBERTY. WHY?
The other was a picture postcard—a view of the Midlington Parish Church—and the message, in pencil, ran:
WHY ARE YOU PROTECTING
THOYNE. HAS HE PAID YOU?
“It wasn’t sent open like that,” Pepster explained. “It came in an envelope. It’s a popular card, printed by the hundred and sold by every stationer in Midlington. Somebody seems to have a rare grudge against Thoyne.”