Yet was not Mabel’s liberty—nay, perhaps her very life—at stake?
“You’ve told us very little regarding this friend of yours, Mr Kershaw Kirk, whom you appear to suspect so strongly,” the younger of the two men remarked at last. “Who is he?”
“An adventurer,” I replied quickly. “I have no doubt whatever upon that point.”
The man pursed his lips dubiously.
“May it not be that you are somewhat prejudiced against him?” he ventured to suggest.
“No. He was in the house at the time when the Professor’s body was cremated in his own furnace. If you went to Sussex Place you would probably discover some remains among the ashes.”
“Do you allege, then, that you were an actual witness of the cremation?” asked the officer.
“No; I found him in the house.”
“And, later on, you discovered the furnace alight, eh?”
“Yes.”