The Bishop said: ‘I blame myself for not having been a more conscientious trustee.’

‘It was never expected of you to understand finance,’ said Carrie Louise. ‘That was originally Mr Gilfoy’s province. Then, when he died, Lewis’s great experience put him in what amounted to complete control. And that, of course, was what went to his head.’

The pink colour came up in her cheeks.

‘Lewis was a great man,’ she said. ‘A man of great vision, and a passionate believer in what could be accomplished — with money. He didn’t want it for himself — or at least not in the greedy vulgar sense — he did want the power of it — he wanted the power to do great good with it — ’

‘He wanted,’ said the Bishop, ‘to be God.’ His voice was suddenly stern. ‘He forgot that man is only the humble instrument of God’s will.’

‘And so he embezzled the Trust funds?’ said Miss Marple.

Dr Galbraith hesitated.

‘It wasn’t only that…’

‘Tell her,’ said Carrie Louise. ‘She is my oldest friend.’

The Bishop said:

‘Lewis Serrocold was what one might call a financial wizard. In his years of highly technical accountancy, he had amused himself by working out various methods of swindling which were practically foolproof. This had been merely an academic study, but when he once began to envisage the possibilities that a vast sum of money could encompass, he put these methods into practice. You see, he had at his disposal some first-class material. Amongst the boys who passed through here, he chose out a small select band. They were boys whose bent was naturally criminal, who loved excitement and who had a very high order of intelligence. We’ve not got nearly to the bottom of it all, but it seems clear that this esoteric circle was secret and specially trained and were later placed in key positions, where, by carrying out Lewis’s directions, books were falsified in such a way that large sums of money were converted without any suspicion being aroused. I gather that the operations and the ramifications are so complicated that it will be months before the auditors can unravel it all. But the net result seems to be that under various names and banking accounts and companies Lewis Serrocold would have been able to dispose of a colossal sum with which he intended to establish an overseas colony for a co-operative experiment in which juvenile delinquents should eventually own this territory and administer it. It may have been a fantastic dream — ’

‘It was a dream that might have come true,’ said Carrie Louise.

‘Yes, it might have come true. But the means Lewis Serrocold adopted were dishonest means, and Christian Gulbrandsen discovered that. He was very upset, particularly by the realization of what the discovery and the probable prosecution of Lewis would mean to you, Carrie Louise.’

‘That’s why he asked me if my heart was strong, and seemed so worried about my health,’ said Carrie Louise. ‘I couldn’t understand it.’