“He was doing something shady in association with Eales, so the arguments against Eales apply to him to some extent.”

“Yes. . . . Du Pine could not have been James, I take it?”

“No. I’ve checked him up, and he was in London on the Saturday and Sunday following the murder.”

“Not James,” wrote Mallett. “Must therefore have had assistance.”

“That seems to follow,” Frant agreed. “The only other point against him I can suggest is his general behaviour.”

“It was certainly uncouth enough to frighten Mrs. Eales fairly considerably,” said Mallett.

“And he himself is frightened very badly of something.”

“To judge from what I saw at the inquest, the something was a someone, and his name was Fanshawe.” Mallett finished Du Pine’s meagre dossier, and went on: “Fanshawe! I think he deserves a sheet to himself.”

“No difficulty about a motive there.”

“Motive overwhelming,” went on to the paper. Then followed briefly: “Evidence—(a) Threats; (b) Opportunity; (c) Travel.”

“That looks fairly impressive,” remarked Frant.

“Yes. How much more impressive it would be if we didn’t have to add something.” And Mallett wrote: “Not Colin James.”

“How lucky for Fanshawe,” he observed, “that James and Ballantine were seen going into Daylesford Gardens, and James was seen coming out.”

“There’s no doubt about the bona fides of the witness Roach, is there?” asked Frant.

“None at all. I’ve had him looked up. He seems to be a most reliable little man. By the way, is there any evidence that Fanshawe has profited by the crime—financially, I mean?”

“No. He is living very quietly with his sister in Daylesford Court Mansions. I should say he was decidedly badly off.”

“Did you go to Rawson’s in Cornhill to see whether he got his ticket to Paris from there?”

“Yes. It was quite correct and in order.”

Mallett sighed and placed the paper neatly on the others.

“Harper comes next, I think,” he said. “His motive is the same as Fanshawe’s, only at one remove, so to speak, plus money, perhaps. And unlike Fanshawe, he has got suddenly richer since the murder. Like Du Pine, he has something to hide, and something frightens him. Unlike Eales or Du Pine, he does not appear to have had any previous connection with Ballantine, or knowledge of his transactions. Unlike anybody else on the list, he professes actually to have seen James—and, incidentally, either accidentally or on purpose, he has contrived to cover James’s tracks very thoroughly. An odd person, Harper, and in an odd position too. He seems to link up so many different parts of the puzzle.”

“You don’t think he did the murder, do you?” said Frant.

“Did it? No. . . .”

“Or helped to do it in any way?”