human
At any rate, he remarked, after a pause,
gpt
Certainly; but we have yet much to learn. I doubt not but that the secret of 'Doctor Meadows' will prove less easy to solve than that of your father. I agree with Meadows that much of the mystery we have almost solved should have been explained long ago. The discovery that the Squire had been an Indian officer, coupled with the fact of the unknown assailant's agility, etcetera, should have suggested to us the possibility of the creature being a Thug. The Squire's story has revealed one thing--the reason why he fainted at my mention of the woman in coloured skirts. He thought the avenger had come in the person of Lilla herself (whom he believed to be dead), when what I had seen was this Indian, whose clothing must certainly be somewhat similar to that we associate with a female. Now we know, too, that the 'robbery' of the gardener's coat was effected in order that the assassin might be less recognisable. One thing, though, strikes me as strange. How did this creature learn to ride a bicycle?
human
You mustn't forget that India, like all other countries, is advancing with the times. No doubt the Thugs encourage such a form of athletics among their children. Why he did not return the bicycle to the shed, though, seems difficult to understand; and what is another mystery to me is why he used a pistol on the first occasion, when that weapon is little known among the Thugs.
gpt
Perhaps, finding it so difficult to get into the house and murder your father, he cast caution and his usual weapon to the winds, and essayed the attack on the moor. By chance he discovered the secret passages and room when lurking in that splendid hiding-place, the barn. Then, having lost his pistol, he entered the Squire's room by means of the secret door in the wall, and would have murdered the old man had it not been for the bat.
human
But how do you know that the unexplored secret passage does lead to the Squire's room, as Meadows suggested that it might?
gpt
Because, replied Lena triumphantly,
human
I noticed that the wardrobe in that room had been shifted since the Squire's return to consciousness, and for no apparent reason. Mrs. Featherston, moreover, informed me that it was moved at the Squire's particular request.