"It seems to me the main facts cannot be got away from," I said.
"Zena assisted in the ruining process by saying, 'Cherchez la femme.'"
"You see, Murray, you do not account for the woman and the bag," said Zena.
"They are extraneous incidents belonging to his private life. It is remarkable how distinct he kept his private from his political life."
"Very remarkable," Quarles said. "Yet the woman is also a fact, and she seems to me of the utmost importance. We must account for her, and your explanation brings me no sense of satisfaction. Let me tell you how I began to demolish my theory, Wigan. I started with Masini. Now, he seemed honest to me. He was very ready to repeat Fisher's exact words, and the very fact of my asking for them would have made him suspicious and put him on his guard had he possessed any guilty knowledge, whether it concerned Fisher or the two visitors. Further, had he been in league with the two visitors and knew they had murdered his master, he would hardly have been so ready to block suspicion in other directions. He would not have said his master's visitors came chiefly from his constituency, and he certainly would not have scouted the idea of a woman caller. He would have welcomed such a suggestion, fully appreciating how valuable a woman would be in starting an inquiry on a false trail."
"But you mustn't attribute to an Italian servant all the subtlety you might use under similar circumstances," I said.
"I am showing you how I picked my own theory to pieces," he answered. "I next considered the visitors. I assumed they were there for an unlawful purpose—your facts go to show that my assumption was right—and I asked myself why and how they had murdered Bridwell. If he were a schemer with them, there would be no need to murder him, no need to silence him; were he to talk afterwards he would only injure himself, not them. If they were there to force papers from their host, it seems unlikely that he would be so unsuspicious of them that he would have asked them to dinner, and, even if he were, a moment must have come during, or after dinner, when they must have shown their hand. A man who deals in this kind of commerce does not easily trust people. Bridwell's suspicions would certainly have been aroused; he would in some measure, at any rate, have been prepared, and we should have found some signs of a struggle."
"I admit the soundness of the argument," I answered. "For my part I incline to Reynolds' opinion that it was suicide after all."
"Oh, no; it was murder," said Quarles.
"A tablet—" I began.