“I suppose this discovery about the silencer is responsible for the deputation waiting in the courtyard,” he said drily.
“The police don’t know about it yet,” replied Bruce; “at least they didn’t when I left.”
Robin shook his head dubiously.
“If the servants know it, Manderton will worm it out of them. Hasn’t he cross-examined Jay?”
“Yes,” said Bruce. “But he got nothing out of him about this. Manderton seems to have put everybody’s back up. He gets nothing out of the servants ...”
“If Parrish had had this silencer for some time, you may be sure that other people know about it. These silencers must be pretty rare in England. You see, an average person like myself didn’t know what it was. By the way, another point which we haven’t yet cleared up is this: supposing we are right in believing Parrish to have been murdered, how do you explain the fact that the bullet removed from his body fitted his pistol?”
“That’s a puzzler, I must say!” said Bruce.
“There’s only one possible explanation, I think,” Robin went on, “and that is that Parrish was shot by a pistol of exactly the same calibre as his own. For the murderer to have killed Parrish with his own weapon would have been difficult without a struggle. But Miss Trevert heard no struggle. For murderer and his victim to have pistols of the same calibre argues a rather remarkable coincidence, I grant you. But then life is full of coincidences! We meet them every day in the law. Though, I admit, this is a coincidence which requires some explaining ...”
He fell into a brown study which Bruce interrupted by suddenly remembering that he had had no lunch.
For answer Robin pointed at the sideboard.