“Because they were both torn! Joel was a neat person. He was not likely to tear his gloves at all, certainly not both of them in the same way. And his hands were as large as anybody’s in the household. Then I remembered Graham’s alibi. Wet hands might have torn both gloves at the wrists at the same time. And under the intense excitement and haste of his crime the murderer might not notice what he had done. Both tears were recent, remember. Once focussed on Graham, I set about figuring how he could have done it. I may have been wrong on details here and there but the gist of it was correct. That’s why he killed himself.”
“And you let him,” murmured Landis.
“I did!” Bernard retorted bluntly. “I’m retired now and I can consider the suffering of a convicted criminal’s family. You couldn’t have done it and played fair with your job, Landis! So I did it for you.”
“I’m mighty glad you did, sir!”
Bernard nodded.
“For the rest, Graham obviously lied to us about the exact time that Anita ran along the hall. That business of burning his wife’s back and letting Miss Mount tend her opened up a new angle in the case. Finally, Graham had been afforded such a very tempting opportunity to blackmail Harrison, if our guess about Ethel and Miss Mount was correct.”
“And I missed it all,” Landis mourned. “But there’s another thing I want explained. Why in the Sam Hill did you keep me in the dark right up to the end? Why did you put in all those bits about Joel and Brent and even Mrs. Graham, as though you suspected them?”
Bernard gave vent to a chuckle of teasing laughter.
“My dear fellow, it was essential that Graham be convinced of your innocence so far as he was concerned. I wanted you to play up your Miss Mount theory sincerely. Otherwise, if he thought you suspected him, too, he would never have tried to get rid of me!”
“The idea of letting him!” snapped Mrs. Bernard.