He smiled.
"Every one's an ass."
"Suppose he were to be found guilty, and was hanged, and all the time he was innocent; how dreadful it would be."
Another little movement with his hands.
"It's the way of the world. The innocent are always being hung. Half the time we guilty ones go free."
This was a man. I went still further.
"Do you know that we met each other, for the first time, on the night which the murder happened?"
"Am I likely to forget it?"
"Thank you. It's very kind of you to say so. But do you know that we must have met each other quite close to what they call the scene of the tragedy."
"I believe that we were within half a mile of it."