There was a silence. The two looked at each other.
“Masterson,” Anthony said at last, “you’re very useful, you know. Most useful. Wish you weren’t sick a-bed. Now here’s another point. We’ve fixed the author of these articles as one man; but what about the motive force behind the author. I’m inclining to the view that as these papers differ so widely in everything else they are controlled by some one whose only interest in them was to do Hoode a bad turn. Agree?”
Masterson nodded emphatically.
“Right.” Anthony leaned forward, speaking softly. “But did this motive force hire some one to write for it, or was its distaste for the unfortunate Robin Hoode so great that it wrote itself, being unwilling to forgo the pleasure of, so to speak, giving birth to a new litter of scorpions three times a month or more? Briefly, are you with me in thinking that author and motive force are probably one and the same?”
“By God, I am!” Masterson said.
Anthony smiled. “Well, thank God I’ve found another lunatic! That’s what we are, you know. Think of our theory! It is that some one had such a hatred of Hoode that the secret purchase of three newspapers was needed to assuage it. That’s what we’ve said; we’re thinking more. But we’re frightened to say what it is because it’ll sound so silly.”
“I know. I know.” Masterson’s tone was almost fearful. “I say, we can’t be right! It isn’t sense! Now I come to think of it there are dozens of other theories that’d fit. There might be more than one person. The whole thing might be political. The——”
Anthony raised a hand for silence. “Fear not. Of course you can fit other theories. One always can; that’s the devil of this bloodhound business. The only way to work is to pick a likely-looking path and go down it. I’ve chosen one to get on with. As you say, it’s not sense; but then nothing else is. It’s sad and bad and very mad and very far from sweet. But there it is. So we’ll all go mad. I’m starting now.” He got to his feet.
“Here, wait a minute!” Masterson cried. “Don’t go. I—I might be able to help you.”
“My dear fellow, you have already—immeasurably! For one thing you’ve crystallised my determination to go mad and stay mad——”