“We’ll buy it,” said Gordon.
“Actually it comes from the third book of Esdras. That’s a thing ninety-nine people out of a hundred don’t know. But what was I saying? Oh, yes, it’s extraordinary how criminals don’t escape. If you come to think of it, we were close on the track of our man the whole time.”
“There,” said Gordon, “I can’t agree with you. Up to a certain point we were on the right track. Then you came and confused all the tracks with your ‘Davenant-is-Brotherhood’ slogan. After that we were at a loss—or rather, it was worse than that, we were definitely off the true scent, although the man himself was within a few yards of us. It was only because he came out of his hiding-place and disturbed Reeves’ papers—a sheer accident, from our point of view—that we were able to start again. Now, your ideal detective is never dependent upon an accident.”
“Well, don’t rub it in,” suggested Reeves. “After all, we are both of us as much to blame, because we swallowed Carmichael’s theory like lambs.”
“Well, as a matter of fact, I never did agree with Carmichael.”
“Never did agree with him? Well, you kept jolly dark about it. What weren’t you satisfied with about his explanation?”
“Oh, it seemed to me to disregard human probabilities. And, as I told you the other day, I trust human probabilities more than I trust circumstantial evidence. I didn’t believe, for example, that the same man could be a Catholic from Saturday to Monday and an atheist for the rest of the week.”
“But Carmichael explained that. Surely it’s reasonable that a Roman Catholic should want to sweep away what he regards as inadequate theologies?”
“No, it’s just what he wouldn’t do. I used to know a good many Catholics at one time, and I know a certain amount about their point of view. And they couldn’t act in the way Carmichael described, because it would be doing evil in order that good might come of it. And Catholic theology, you see, doesn’t allow that.”
“I only gave that as a possible explanation,” objected Carmichael. “There are plenty of other possible explanations.”