“I will let you know without delay,” said I; and then, as he seemed to have completed his work, and put the documents aside, I made a final effort to extract some definite information from him.
“It is evident,” I said, “that the body of facts in your notes has conveyed a good deal more to you than it has to me.”
“Probably,” he agreed. “If it had not, I should seem to have profited little by years of professional practice.”
“Then,” I said persuasively, “may I ask if you have formed a really satisfactory theory as to who this man is and why he murdered D’Arblay?”
Thorndyke reflected for a few moments and then replied:
“My position, Gray, is this: I have arrived at a very definite theory as to the motive of the murder, and a most extraordinary motive it is. But there are one or two points that I do not understand. There are some links missing from the chain of evidence. So with the identity of the man. We know pretty certainly that he is the murderer of Van Zellen, and we know what he is like to look at, but we can’t give him a name and a definite personality. There are links missing there, too. But I have great hopes of finding those missing links. If I find them I shall have a complete case against this man, and I shall forthwith set the law in motion. I can’t tell you more than that at present, but I repeat that you are in possession of all the facts, and that if you think over all that has happened and ask yourself what it can mean, though you will not arrive at a complete solution any more than I have, you will at least begin to see the light.”
This was all that I could get out of him, and as it was now growing late I presently rose to take my departure. He walked with me as far as the Middle Temple Gate and stood outside the wicket watching me as I strode away westward.
CHAPTER XIV.
The Haunted Man
When I arrived at the studio on the following afternoon I found the door open and Polton waiting just inside with his hat and overcoat on and his bag in his hand.
“I am glad you are punctual, Sir,” he said, with his benevolent smile. “I wanted to get back to the chambers in good time to-day. It won’t matter to-morrow, which is fortunate, as you may be late.”