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Page 100
"Excellent," murmured Harley. "I congratulate you. Myopia is so common
in the present generation. You have decided, of course, that the murder
was committed by Ah Tsong?"
Inspector Aylesbury's eyes seemed to protrude extraordinarily.
"Ah Tsong!" he exclaimed. "Ah Tsong!"
"Surely it is palpable," continued Harley, "that of the three people
residing in the Guest House, Ah Tsong is the only one who could
possibly have done the deed."
"Who could possibly--who could possibly----" stuttered the Inspector,
then paused because of sheer lack of words.
"Review the evidence," continued Harley, coolly. "Mrs. Camber was
awakened by the sound of a shot. She immediately rang for Ah Tsong.
There was a short interval before Ah Tsong appeared--and when he did
appear he was wearing an overcoat. Note this point, Inspector: wearing
an overcoat. He descended to the study and found Mr. Camber writing.
Now, Ah Tsong sleeps in a room adjoining the kitchen on the ground
floor. We passed his quarters on our way to the garden a moment ago. Of
course, you had noted this? Mr. Camber is therefore eliminated from our
list of suspects."
The Inspector was growing very red, but ere he had time to speak Harley
continued:
"The first of these three persons to have heard a shot fired at the end
of the garden would have been Ah Tsong, and not Mrs. Camber, whose room
is upstairs and in the front of the house. If it had been fired by Mr.
Camber from the spot upon which we now stand, he would still have been
in the garden at the moment when Mrs. Camber was ringing the bell for
Ah Tsong. Mr. Camber must therefore have returned from the end of the
garden to the study, and have passed Ah Tsong's room--unheard by the
occupant--between the time that the bell rang and the time that Ah
Tsong went upstairs. This I submit to be impossible. There is an
alternative: it is that he slipped in whilst Ah Tsong, standing on the
landing above, was receiving his mistress's orders. I submit that the
alternative is also impossible. We thus eliminate Mr. Camber from the
case, as I have already mentioned."
"Eliminate--eliminate!" cried the Inspector, beginning to recover power
of speech. "Do you think you can fuddle me with a mass of words, Mr.
Harley? Allow me to point out to you, sir, that you are in no way
officially associated with this matter."
"You have already drawn my attention to the fact, Inspector, but it can
do no harm to jog my memory."
Harley spoke entirely without bitterness, and I, who knew his every
mood, realized that he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Therefore I
knew that at last he had found a clue.
"I may add, Inspector," said he, "that upon further reflection I have
also eliminated Ah Tsong from the case. I forgot to mention that he
lacks the first and second fingers of his right hand; and I have yet to
meet the marksman who can shoot a man squarely between the eyes, by
moonlight, at a hundred yards, employing his third finger as trigger-
finger. There are other points, but these will be sufficient to show
you that this case is more complicated than you had assumed it to be."
Inspector Aylesbury did not deign to reply, or could not trust himself
to do so. He turned and made his way back to the house.
CHAPTER XXIV
AN OFFICIAL MOVE
We re�ntered the study to find Mrs. Camber sitting in a chair very
close to her husband. Inspector Aylesbury stood in the open doorway for
a moment, and then, stepping back into the hall:
"Sergeant Butler," he said, addressing the man who waited there.
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