human
Captain Lestrange brought Cicero here, Alan, she said abruptly,
gpt
I was not! cried young Thorold hotly.
human
I was never near the hut. Why should I have been? Ask yourself, as I had to walk to and from Murbury, and spend a quarter of an hour in the churchyard, had I time to cross the moor all the distance to the hut?
gpt
Of course, you know I don't believe it. But Cicero----
human
Well, and how can he prove I was there?
gpt
He found something there which belonged to you.
human
What?
gpt
A lancet.
human
A lancet! And why mine? Warrender was a doctor; he took away the body--why should the lancet not belong to him? If he had intended to dissect the body--which he might have, for all I know--he would want one.
gpt
No doubt, Mr. Phelps said dryly.
human
But this lancet had your initials on the ivory handle. It is your lancet, Alan, and it is now in Cicero's possession.
gpt
H'm! that's queer. Initials?--yes, it might be mine. But how did it get there?
human
Did you ever lend a lancet to Dr. Warrender?
gpt
No, not that I can remember.
human
Then there was the other man, his accomplice, Brown the----
gpt
Ha! cried Alan, starting up and pacing the room.
human
I see, I see!
gpt
See what?
human
How the lancet came to be found in the hut. The Quiet Gentleman stole it.
gpt
Stole it?
human
Of course. Did he not steal the key of the vault from my desk? There was a case of lancets in the same drawer; he took one. Ha! this proves to me that Brown stole the body and murdered Warrender. A clever scoundrel! He stole my lancet to throw suspicion on me. Alan clenched his hands and looked upward.
gpt
In God's name, what does this roguery mean?