“That seems very obvious.”
“I could have understood it had there only been a very little arsenic in the bottle, but that it should have contained the quantity it did is amazing.”
Why Mr. Gascoyne should have understood it better had there not been so much arsenic in the bottle was not very apparent, but he was in the sort of mood in which people are apt to talk nonsense.
“Have you the least suspicion as to who might have put the poison in the bottle, Israel?”
He looked at me furtively.
“They might say that it was I, sir.”
I fancy that he gave almost a sigh of relief. He would never have dared to make such a suggestion himself, and I could see that he was thankful to me for giving him an opening.
“To tell you the truth, Israel, it has struck me that in the absence of anyone else being open to suspicion they might hint at such an absurdity.”
I laughed, a highly successful laugh.
“You see, sir, in my case there is motive.”