"I suppose you will want me to tell you all about it," she said, with a faint shudder.
"Not unless you know something fresh. I have every particular in my head that has been published."
Helen looked surprised.
"You read all about it, I suppose?" she asked.
"Yes; such things interest us, naturally. This one did me particularly, because, from the first, I saw that the police were on the wrong tack."
"What is your idea about it, then?" she asked.
"Simply this," he answered, turning round and facing her for the first time. "All the time and trouble spent in scouring the country and watching the ports and railway stations was completely wasted. The murder was not committed by an outsider at all. The first thing I shall want, when we begin to work this, is the name and address of all the people living within a mile or two of the scene of the murder, and then every possible particular concerning Mr. Bernard Brown, of Falcon"s Nest."
She could not help a slight start. And from his looking at her now for the first time so fixedly, and from the abrupt manner in which he had brought out the latter part of his sentence, she knew that he was trying her.
"There is one more question, too, Miss Thurwell, which I must ask you, and it is a very important one," he continued, still looking at her. "Do you suspect any one?"
She answered him without hesitation.
"I do."
Mr. Levy, senior, stirred in his chair, and leaned forward eagerly. Mr.
Benjamin remained perfectly unmoved.
"And who is it?" he asked.
"Mr. Brown."
Mr. Benjamin looked away and made a note. If she could have seen it, Helen would certainly have been surprised. For, though her voice was low, she had schooled herself to go through her task without agitation.
Yet, here was the note.
"Query: Connection between Mr. Brown and Miss T. Showed great agitation in announcing suspicion."
"Do you mind telling us your reasons?" he went on.
She repeated them after the manner of one who has learned a lesson.
"Mr. Brown came to our part of the country just at the time that Sir Geoffrey came from abroad. They had met before, and there was some cause of enmity between them----"
"Stop! How do you know that?" Mr. Benjamin interrupted quickly.
She told him of Mr. Brown"s admission to her, and of the tragedy of Rachel Kynaston"s last words. He seemed to know something of this too.
"Any other reason?"
"He seemed agitated when he came out from the cottage, after the crime was discovered. From its situation he could easily have committed the murder and regained it unseen. It would have been infinitely easier for him to have done it than anyone else."
Mr. Benjamin looked at his father, and his father looked at him.
"Can you tell me anything at all of his antecedents?" he continued.
She shook her head.
"We knew nothing about him when he came. He never talked about himself."
"But he was your father"s tenant, was he not?"
"Yes."
"Then he gave you some references, I suppose?"
"Only his bankers and his lawyers."
"Do you remember those?"
"Yes. The bankers were Gregsons, and the lawyer"s name was Cuthbert."
Mr. Benjamin made a note of both.
"There is nothing more which it occurs to you to tell us, Miss Thurwell?" he asked.
"There is one circ.u.mstance which seemed to me at the time suspicious,"
she said slowly. "It was after the body had been carried to Mr. Brown"s house, and I was waiting for my father there. I think I must have suspected Mr. Brown then, in a lesser degree, for I took the opportunity of being alone to look into his sitting room. It was rather a mean thing to do," she added hurriedly, "but I was a little excited at the notion of his guilt, and I felt that I would do anything to help to bring the truth to light."
"It was very natural," interposed Mr. Levy, senior, who had been watching for some time for the opportunity of getting a word in. "Very natural, indeed."
His son took no notice of the interruption, and Helen continued.
"What I saw may be of no consequence, but I will just tell you what it was, and what it suggested to me. The window was open, and the leaves of a laurel shrub just outside were dripping with wet. A little way in the room was an empty basin, and on the floor by the side was a pile of books. They might have been there by accident, but it seemed to me as if they had been purposely placed there to hide something--possibly a stain on the floor. Before I could move any of them to see, I was disturbed."
"By Mr. Brown?"
"By Mr. Brown and Sir Allan Beaumerville."
"Did you gather from his appearance that he was alarmed at finding you there?"
Helen shook her head.
"No. He was surprised, certainly, but that was natural. I cannot say that he looked alarmed."
Mr. Benjamin put away his notes and turned round on his stool.
"A word or two with regard to the business part of this matter, Miss Thurwell. Are you prepared to spend a good deal of money?"
"If it is necessary, yes."
"Very good. Then I will give you a sketch of my plans. We have agents in Paris, Vienna, Venice, and other towns, whom I shall at once employ in tracing out Sir Geoffrey Kynaston"s life abroad, concerning which I already have some useful information. During the rest of the day I shall make inquiries about Mr. Brown in London. To-morrow I shall be prepared to come down to Thurwell in any capacity you suggest."
"If you know anything of auditing," she said, "you can come down and go through the books of the estate at the Court. I can arrange that."