“Fire away, then.”
“When we searched his rooms after he had gone, his landlady said he always kept a revolver in the top drawer in his bedroom. The day before yesterday she saw him take it out, and put it in his pocket.”
“My dear fellow, this is too crude for words. Couldn’t he have shut his door, or taken some precaution?”
“Of course, I know that, but it is this sort of mistake which hangs men.”
“Well, go on.”
“That’s all, but it is enough to go on for me. Why has he fled, tell me that?”
“My dear fellow, let me demolish your house of cards. First, would a man who is so cool a hand that he can do what he has done, show nervousness and fright when asked to go to the house? Would he not rather welcome the chance, as these vain-glorious murderers invariably do?”
“Perhaps.”
“Then, from what you tell me, he seems to have made up his mind to go and see Sir James suddenly. That doesn’t fit in.”
“How did he get into the house and out again the second time?”