"Now, naturally, you are wanting to hear the story," he said briskly,
"and I'll make it as brief as possible. But I warn you there's a good
deal to be told, and afterward there'll be work for Scotland Yard, more
work than perhaps they'll care about; but that is another story. To begin
with, the jury, my lord, was undoubtedly, from all signs, about to
convict the prisoner upon a charge of murder--a murder of which he was
entirely innocent. You have heard Merriton's story. Believe me, every
word of it is true--circumstantial evidence to the contrary
notwithstanding.
"In the first place, Dacre Wynne was shot through the temple at the
instigation of that man there," he pointed to Brellier, standing pale and
still between two constables, "foully shot, as many others had been
similarly done to death, because they had ventured forth across the Fens
at night, and were likely to investigate this man's charming little
midnight movements, further than he cared about. To creatures of his like
human life is nothing compared to what it can produce.
Pages:
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311