“It may not be a bad thing,” he said. “It may put the murderer into a false position of security.”
“You don’t think much of this, then?”
“I reserve judgment, but if you are right he was one of the cleverest scoundrels of this generation.”
Sinclair started. The words were the same as in the letter he had received, and which was burning in his pocket.
“But you, what did you find in Devonshire?”
“A charming house and a charming girl. It was a rotten job to have to break the news to her.”
“Then why on earth did you go?”
“Oh, I learnt some interesting facts about the family.”
“It’s a dark business altogether, and the worst is that we shall have no peace till it is solved. I have had our staff working all day tracing the movements of well-known criminals who are at large, and any who may have had a grievance against the Home Secretary. Also of any lunatics who are at large, and, as you know, there are many of them.”
They smoked in silence for a while.