“Oh, yes, sir!”
“And you say it was not on the pistol when Mr. Parrish’s body was found?”
“No, sir!”
“Are you sure of this?”
“Yes, sir. I was one of the first in the room, and I saw the pistol in Mr. Parrish’s hand, and there was no sign of the cup, sir. So I’ve had a good look among his things and I can’t find it anywhere!”
Bruce Wright pondered a minute.
“Try and think, Jay,” he said, “if you can’t remember anything more about this steel cup, as you call it. Where did Mr. Parrish buy it?”
“Can’t say, I’m sure, sir. He had it before ever I took service with him!”
Jay put his hand to his forehead for an instant.
“Now I come to think of it,” he said, “there was the name of the shop or maker on it, stamped on the steel. ‘Maxim,’ that was the name, now I put my mind back, with a number ...”