"How the devil did the police find out he was Northcote?" I interrupted.
"He had some papers on him, apparently—what they were I don't know, but enough to give them a hint of the truth. They wired for Maurice Furnivall, and he identified the body at once as that of his cousin. He told the police that he'd felt you were an impostor ever since you'd arrived at Ashton."
"There are the makings of a very fine liar about Maurice," I observed dispassionately. "How did they find out my name?"
"Partly by means of Northcote's papers, I fancy, and partly through your Chelsea landlady. She'd been to the police about your disappearance, and her description of you fitted in, of course, with that of the dead man."
"I never thought of that!" I exclaimed. "I ought to have sent the old lady a message to say I was coming back." Then I paused. "What's the plan of campaign now?" I added.
Gordon leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him, and speaking in that queer voice of his which finished off each sentence with a kind of businesslike snap.
"The police shall have their remand. I'm hoping that by to-morrow we shall have laid our hands on Guarez and his friends. They've bolted from the Hollies, of course; but I've put Preston, one of our smartest men, on their track, and I expect to hear from him any minute. I'm also moving heaven and earth to find Milford. I've got the police with me there; so if he's above ground, he ought to turn up." He rose to his feet and paced slowly across the room. "You see, the truth is so wildly incredible that I daren't bring it forward until we have got every possible shred of evidence. The more the police find out about the case the better for us."
I was just about to express my agreement when the door opened and the constable came into the room.
"The magistrate has just arrived, Mr. Gordon," he said, in a manner that suggested it was rather impertinent of the magistrate to have done so before consulting Mr. Gordon's convenience.
"Very well," said my counsel, gathering up his papers. "I've still one or two points I want to discuss," he added, turning to me, "so I'll come back here as soon as the case is over."