|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 119
"But, my dear fellow," I cried, "was Camber to foresee that the floor
of the hut would be taken up?"
Harley sighed, and leaned back in his chair.
"Do you recollect your first meeting with this man, Knox?"
"Perfectly."
"What occurred?"
"He was slightly drunk."
"Yes, but what was the nature of his conversation?"
"He suggested that I had recognized his resemblance to Edgar Allan
Poe."
"Quite. What had led him to make this suggestion?"
"The manner in which I had looked at him, I suppose."
"Exactly. Although not quite sober, from a mere glance he was able to
detect what you were thinking. Do you wish me to believe, Knox, that
this same man had not foreseen what the police would think when Colonel
Menendez was found shot within a hundred yards of the garden of the
Guest House?"
I was somewhat taken aback, for Harley's argument was strictly logical,
and:
"It is certainly very puzzling," I admitted.
"Puzzling!" he exclaimed; "it is maddening. This case is like a Syrian
village-mound. Stratum lies under stratum, and in each we meet with
evidence of more refined activity than in the last. It seems we have
yet to go deeper."
He took out his pipe and began to fill it.
"Tell me about the interview with Madame de St�mer," he directed.
I took a seat facing him, and he did not once interrupt me throughout
my account of Inspector Aylesbury's examination of Madame.
"Good," he commented, when I had told how the Inspector was dismissed.
"But at least, Knox, he has a working theory, to which he sticks like
an express to the main line, whereas I find myself constantly called
upon to readjust my perspective. Directly I can enjoy freedom of
movement, however, I shall know whether my hypothesis is a house of
cards or a serviceable structure."
"Your hypothesis?" I said. "Then you really have a theory which is
entirely different from mine?"
"Not entirely different, Knox, merely not so comprehensive. I have
contented myself thus far with a negative theory, if I may so express
it."
"Negative theory?"
"Exactly. We are dealing, my dear fellow, with a case of bewildering
intricacies. For the moment I have focussed upon one feature only."
"What is that?"
"Upon proving that Colin Camber did not do the murder."
"Did _not_ do it?"
"Precisely, Knox. Respecting the person or persons who did do it, I had
preserved a moderately open mind, up to the moment that Inspector
Aylesbury entered the library with the Lee-Enfield."
"And then?" I said, eagerly.
"Then," he replied, "I began to think hard. However, since I practise
what I preach, or endeavour to do so, I must not permit myself to
speculate upon this aspect of the matter until I have tested my theory
of Camber's innocence."
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|