"Then why, may I ask," interjected the vicar sternly, "did you not volunteer this information when the question was raised as to who shot your master?"
"Never thought on it, sir. Jim Brewer is a chap as couldn't hurt nobody."
"And yet the fact remains that you saw him close to the plantation on the afternoon on which Sir John was shot, and that no one saw Ralph Penlogan near the place."
"Yes, sir," Bilkins said vacantly.
"But what explanation or excuse have you to offer for such dereliction of duty?"
"For what, sir?"
"You must know, surely, that information was sought in all directions that would throw any light on the question."
"No one axed me anything, sir."
"But you might have told what you knew without being asked."
Bilkins looked perplexed, and remained silent.