'Mr. Montagu Babbacombe? Then in that case--but I don't understand.' He turned to the young gentleman. 'Surely this is a portrait of your lordship's brother?'
'Undoubtedly.'
Dr. Clinton spoke.
'The point, Sir Gregory, is this. The idea is that Montagu Babbacombe was only another name for the Marquis of Twickenham; but before that can be admitted there's a difficulty to be got over. I knew Montagu Babbacombe, and I'm ready to testify that he never had anything the matter with his heart in the whole of his life, and that on the morning of the day on which the Marquis died he was in excellent health.'
'Then your Babbacombe wasn't my Marquis. The Marquis of Twickenham inherited a weak heart from his father; and as for being in excellent health on the morning of his death, he'd been dying for months.'
The young gentleman appealed to Mr. Howarth.
'Douglas, I really do believe that the solution of the puzzle is in your hands. Did Leonard masquerade as Montagu Babbacombe?'
'My dear Reggie, I don't propose to furnish any information.'
'But that's an impossible position, one for which I can't conceive your justification. Can't you answer Yes or No?'
'Your brother's dead. That's enough for me. It ought to be enough for you.'