“He paved the way to further incriminate Garland, therefore, bent upon making a sure thing of bleeding him out of this money. He wrapped his hand with a bandage, pretending that he had sprained it, and got the girl to write the letter, she supposing it was for him.”
“That’s quite obvious, of course.”
“Lottie Trent probably consented, not thinking of Garland’s given name, in which the letter was addressed, nor of the covert significance of the letter. Margate did not ask her to sign it, of course, which explains why a few fragments of the bottom of the sheet could not be found where I found the others.”
“I see the point,” Chick said thoughtfully. “You may be right.”
“It is further confirmed by another bit of evidence.”
“What is that?”
“The bandage I found on the rectory veranda,” said Nick. “It bore no evidence of having been bound around[{29}] a wound, or sprain. Plainly enough, nevertheless, it had been wrapped around the left hand of a man.”
“And you deduce from that?”
“Something quite suggestive,” said Nick, smiling. “I happen to know that Andy Margate is left-handed.”
“By Jove, that is doubly significant,” Chick declared. “Did you recall that when making your investigations?”