“Very well, then. We keep Eales in the running. By the way, how does that square with your theory of yesterday—that the murder was done by James and Fanshawe in collaboration?”

Frant pondered.

“It doesn’t,” he admitted. “That is, we have no clue as yet to any connection between Eales and Fanshawe—except just this, that they both went abroad on the same night.”

“And that is something,” the inspector agreed. “It would be asking rather a lot from coincidence to expect that three people mixed up this case happened to choose the same night to travel. Apart from that, though, there is no connection between them. Moreover there is a connection, and a close one, between Eales and Du Pine, which doesn’t seem to square with his having anything to do with Fanshawe, Du Pine’s mortal enemy. To all appearances, they are two quite independent people who happen to have reason to hate the same man. At the moment I’m inclined to think that if Eales goes in, Fanshawe comes out.”

He wrote a few more words on his paper.

“May be James,” he murmured. He underlined the word “may”. “It doesn’t seem to me to make sense,” he complained. “That moustache still bothers me. What you say may be right enough as a general proposition, but it doesn’t seem to me to fit this case. James, whoever he was, laid his plans with the greatest care, took every precaution. Why should he omit this obvious and simple one? And then why did Eales tell his wife that he was going to France? It was quite unnecessary. As James, he advertised the fact, naturally. But doesn’t it seem to follow that as Eales, he would keep it as dark as possible?”

Frant groaned. “I give it up,” he said. “You seem to have an answer to everything. I was a fool to jump to conclusions. We’re not an inch farther on than we were.”

“Don’t let’s be in too much of a hurry,” said Mallett. “We needn’t go to the other extreme all at once. All these objections may be explained away. I’m only saying that at present we haven’t the evidence to arrest Eales for murder.” He drew out another sheet of paper and went on: “After all, Eales isn’t the only pebble on our particular beach. We’ve got quite a number of facts accumulated here now, pointing different ways, and to different people. I propose that we take each one in turn, and treat him just as we did Eales and see what it amounts to. Who comes next?”

“Du Pine?” suggested the sergeant.

“Yes, he seems to follow logically. Motive?”

“He wanted to get his share of the boodle which he knew Ballantine was making off with.”

“Good enough. Evidence?”

“He could have introduced the letter to the bank among Lord Henry’s papers.”

“Certainly. Anything more?”