Purvis agreed with
me. And--both Purvis and myself are well acquainted with the
characteristic peculiarities, and idiosyncrasies of Chinamen!--we knew
with what we had to deal. Therefore we knew what we had to do. We wanted
the diamond and my money. And since we were uncomfortably aware of the
craft and subtlety of the thief who'd got both we knew we should have to
use craft ourselves--and of no common sort. Therefore we decided that the
very last thing we should think of would be an immediate appeal to the
police.
"Now, you police officials may, nay, will!--say that we ought to have gone
straight to you, especially as this was a case of murder. But we knew
nothing about it being a case of murder. We had seen no signs of violence
on the old man--I knew him to be very feeble, and I believed he had been
suddenly struck over by paralysis, or something of that sort. I reckoned
matters up, carefully. It was plain that Daniel Multenius had been left
alone in house and shop--that his granddaughter was out on some errand or
other. Therefore, no one knew of the diamond and the money. We did not
want any one to know.
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