"Decent fellow that constable of yours, Mary," remarked Toby, his mouth full of pie. "Getting his head turned a bit though with two arrests in one night. Murder and arson! It's a bit thick for a village in these parts. You mayn't have much money in Anderby, but you do see life!"
Sarah frowned, but as John seemed to be paying little attention to the conversation she decided that Toby's exuberance was not worth checking. Besides, he had really been quite useful throughout this extraordinary, uncomfortable night.
Mary had been attempting to eat the ham that lay on her plate in limp pink slices. She put down her knife and fork now and turned to Toby.
"What's going to happen to Mike O'Flynn now?" she asked.
"Oh, well, of course, he'll have to be kept safe until the trial. Of course the man's insane. An old soldier you said?"
"Yes, and very excitable. He had pneumonia about two years ago and was quite off his head then for a bit. The men told me he's been drinking a lot lately and getting very worked up. I suppose I ought to have noticed, but I just didn't."
"Oh, completely mad I should say. Look at the way he never attempted to escape. Just hung about the body till some one fetched the policeman. Why on earth did he do this fellow in, though? Senseless sort of thing it seemed."
"Oh, I saw him to-night for a few minutes, you know, and he told me."
Sarah heard Mary's flat dreary voice, sounding as though she told a tale so often repeated that it had become unutterably boring.
"He seemed sane in a way then, but queer of course and not at all ashamed. He said that Mr. Rossitur had brought all the trouble to Anderby and when the strike was over he was really furious, but just pretended it was all his own doing. And Mike says that earlier in the evening he saw him hanging round and was sure he was up to some mischief. Then when he heard of the fire he knew Mr. Rossitur had lit it to pay us out, and he saw him run off to get his bicycle—really to fetch the fire-engine, but Mike thought he was running away. So he got Foreman's gun, the one John gave him to shoot rabbits with, and ran down the garden path at the back of the house to the Flying Fox, and came on Mr. Rossitur just as he was getting on his bicycle and shot him point-blank through the head."