“And what will it be for you? Judges and juries are not apt to look with lenient eyes upon gentlemen who habitually traffic in forged acceptances for the purposes of levying blackmail.”
“Don’t talk to me like that; I tell you that I won’t have it!”
“You won’t have it!”
“Upon my word, I don’t know who you are, but I believe you’re a —— highwayman. Give me back those bills, or I go to the front door, and I call a constable.”
“Call one—do. I will give him the bills, with an explanation of what they are, pointing out to him that you will presently have to stand your trial on a charge of conspiracy; and that, also, you are disagreeably associated with a case of murder.”
“The man’s stark mad. I never heard any one talk like he does—never!”
“Possibly you are not aware that Edwin Lawrence was murdered last night.”
“Edwin Lawrence murdered?”
The man turned a greenish hue.
“Beyond doubt his death was the direct result of the crime which you incited him to commit. The whole story’s known. I heard myself, this morning, a confession from the lips of the miserable tool who actually concocted the fraudulent documents. You will find him quite willing to turn Queen’s Evidence. The bills will be produced in Court, when you will have an opportunity to tell your story.”