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Page 37
"No. I didn't see him. But I did see something. I saw the key
of the billiard-room."
"Where?
"Outside the billiard-room door."
"Outside? But it was inside when we looked just now."
"Exactly."
"Who put it there?"
"Obviously Cayley."
"But--"
"Let's go back to this afternoon. I don't remember noticing the
billiard-room key at the time; I must have done so without
knowing. Probably when I saw Cayley banging at the door I may
have wondered subconsciously whether the key of the room next to
it would fit. Something like that, I daresay. Well, when I was
sitting out by myself on that seat just before you came along, I
went over the whole scene in my mind, and I suddenly saw the
billiard-room key there outside. And I began to wonder if the
office-key had been outside too. When Cayley came up, I told you
my idea and you were both interested. But Cayley was just a
shade too interested. I daresay you didn't notice it, but he
was."
"By Jove!"
"Well, of course that proved nothing; and the key business didn't
really prove anything, because whatever side of the door the
other keys were, Mark might have locked his own private room from
the inside sometimes. But I piled it on, and pretended that it
was enormously important, and quite altered the case altogether,
and having got Cayley thoroughly anxious about it, I told him
that we should be well out of the way for the next hour or so,
and that he would be alone in the house to do what he liked about
it. And, as I expected, he couldn't resist it. He altered the
keys and gave himself away entirely."
"But the library key was still outside. Why didn't he alter
that?"
"Because he's a clever devil. For one thing, the Inspector had
been in the library, and might possibly have noticed it already.
And for another--" Antony hesitated.
"What?" said Bill, after waiting for him to go on.
"It's only guesswork. But I fancy that Cayley was thoroughly
upset about the key business. He suddenly realized that he had
been careless, and he hadn't got time to think it all over. So
he didn't want to commit himself definitely to the statement that
the key was either outside or inside. He wanted to leave it
vague. It was safest that way."
"I see," said Bill slowly.
But his mind was elsewhere. He was wondering suddenly about
Cayley. Cayley was just an ordinary man--like himself. Bill had
had little jokes with him sometimes; not that Cayley was much of
a hand at joking. Bill had helped him to sausages, played tennis
with him, borrowed his tobacco, lent him a putter .... and here
was Antony saying that he was what? Well, not an ordinary man,
anyway. A man with a secret. Perhaps a murderer. No, not a
murderer; not Cayley. That was rot, anyway. Why, they had
played tennis together.
"Now then, Watson," said Antony suddenly. "It's time you said
something."
"I say, Tony, do you really mean it?"
"Mean what?"
"About Cayley."
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