“Now I may say that, from the terms of her letter to me and from her subsequent actions, I am quite sure that Miss Arundell passed from indefinite suspicion of four people to definite suspicion of one of those four.
The whole tenor of her letter to me is an insistence that this business must be kept strictly private, since the honour of the family is involved.
“I think that, from a Victorian point of view, this means that a person of her own name was indicated–and preferably a man.
“If she had suspected Mrs. Tanios she would have been quite as anxious to secure her own safety, but not quite as concerned for the family honour. She might have felt much the same about Theresa Arundell, but not nearly as intensely as she would feel about Charles.
“Charles was an Arundell. He bore the family name! Her reasons for suspecting him seem quite clear. To begin with, she had no illusions about Charles. He had come near to disgracing the family once before. That is, she knew him to be not only a potential but an actual criminal! He had already forged her name to a cheque. After forgery–a step further–murder!
“Also she had had a somewhat suggestive conversation with him only two days before her accident. He had asked her for money and she had refused and he had thereupon remarked–oh, lightly enough–that she was going the right way to get herself bumped off. To this she had responded that she could take care of herself! To this, we are told, her nephew responded, ‘Don’t be too sure.’ And two days later this sinister accident takes place.
“It is hardly to be wondered at that lying there and brooding over the occurrence, Miss Arundell came definitely to the conclusion that it was Charles Arundell who had made an attempt upon her life.
“The sequence of events is perfectly clear.
The conversation with Charles. The accident.
The letter written to me in great distress of mind. The letter to the lawyer. On the following Tuesday, the 21st, Mr. Purvis brings the will and she signs it.
“Charles and Theresa Arundell come down the following week-end and Miss Arundell at once takes the necessary steps to safeguard herself. She tells Charles about the will. She not only tells him but she actually shows it to him! That, to my mind, is absolutely conclusive. She is making it quite clear to a would-be murderer that murder would bring him nothing whatever!
“She probably thought that Charles would pass on that information to his sister. But he did not do so. Why? I fancy that he had a very good reason–he felt guilty! He believed that it was his doing that the will had been made. But why did he feel guilty? Because he had really attempted murder? Or merely because he had helped himself to a small sum of ready cash? Either the serious crime or the petty one might account for his reluctance. He said nothing, hoping that his aunt would relent and change her mind.
“As far as Miss ArundelFs state of mind was concerned I felt that I had reconstructed events with a fair amount of correctness. I had next to make up my mind if her suspicions were, in actual fact, justified.
“Just as she had done, I realized that my suspicions were limited to a narrow circle– seven people to be exact. Charles and Theresa Arundell, Dr. Tanios and Mrs. Tanios, the two servants, and Miss Lawson. There was an eighth person who had to be taken into account–namely. Dr. Donaldson, who dined there that night, but I did not learn of his presence until later.
“These seven persons that I was considering fell easily into two categories. Six of them stood to benefit in a greater or lesser degree by Miss ArundelFs death. If any one of those six had committed the crime the reason was probably a plain matter of gain. The second category contained one person only–Miss Lawson. Miss Lawson did not stand to gain by Miss Arundell’s death, but as a result of the accident, she did benefit considerably later!
“That meant that if Miss Lawson staged the so-called accident–” “I never did anything of the kind!” Miss Lawson interrupted. “It’s disgraceful!