Part 20 (1/2)

For a moment Dr. Talbot, Mr. Fenton, and even Knapp stood silent; then the last remarked, with pardonable dryness:

”All this is ingenious, but, unfortunately, it is up set by a little fact which you yourself have overlooked. Have you examined attentively the dagger of which you have so often spoken, Mr. Sweet.w.a.ter?”

”Not as I would like to, but I noticed it had blood on its edge, and was of the shape and size necessary to inflict the wound from which Mrs.

Webb died.”

”Very good, but there is something else of interest to be observed on it. Fetch it, Abel.”

Abel, hurrying from the room, soon brought back the weapon in question.

Sweet.w.a.ter, with a vague sense of disappointment disturbing him, took it eagerly and studied it very closely. But he only shook his head.

”Bring it nearer to the light,” suggested Knapp, ”and examine the little scroll near the top of the handle.”

Sweet.w.a.ter did so, and at once changed colour. In the midst of the scroll were two very small but yet perfectly distinct letters; they were J. Z.

”How did Amabel Page come by a dagger marked with the Zabel initials?”

questioned Knapp. ”Do you think her foresight went so far as to provide herself with a dagger ostensibly belonging to one of these brothers? And then, have you forgotten that when Mr. Crane met the old man at Mrs.

Webb's gateway he saw in his hand something that glistened? Now what was that, if not this dagger?”

Sweet.w.a.ter was more disturbed than he cared to acknowledge.

”That just shows my lack of experience,” he grumbled. ”I thought I had turned this subject so thoroughly over in my mind that no one could bring an objection against it.”

Knapp shook his head and smiled. ”Young enthusiasts like yourself are great at forming theories which well-seasoned men like myself must regard as fantastical. However,” he went on, ”there is no doubt that Miss Page was a witness to, even if she has not profited by, the murder we have been considering. But, with this palpable proof of the Zabels'

direct connection with the affair, I would not recommend her arrest as yet.”

”She should be under surveillance, though,” intimated the coroner.

”Most certainly,” acquiesced Knapp.

As for Sweet.w.a.ter, he remained silent till the opportunity came for him to whisper apart to Dr. Talbot, when he said:

”For all the palpable proof of which Mr. Knapp speaks--the J. Z. on the dagger, and the possibility of this being the object he was seen carrying out of Philemon Webb's gate--I maintain that this old man in his moribund condition never struck the blow that killed Agatha Webb. He hadn't strength enough, even if his lifelong love for her had not been sufficient to prevent him.”

The coroner looked thoughtful.

”You are right,” said he; ”he hadn't strength enough. But don't expend too much energy in talk. Wait and see what a few direct questions will elicit from Miss Page.”

XVIII

SOME LEADING QUESTIONS

Frederick rose early. He had slept but little. The words he had overheard at the end of the lot the night before were still ringing in his ears. Going down the back stairs, in his anxiety to avoid Amabel, he came upon one of the stablemen.

”Been to the village this morning?” he asked.

”No, sir, but Lem has. There's great news there. I wonder if anyone has told Mr. Sutherland.”