"
"Do you mean to say that you possess a record of the facts?" inquired
Hume, exhibiting some tokens of excitement in face and voice as he watched
Brett turning over the leaves of the scrap-book, in which newspaper
cuttings were neatly pasted, some being freely annotated.
"Yes. The daily press supplies my demands in the way of fiction--a word,
by the way, often misapplied. Where do you find stranger tales than in the
records of every-day life? Ah, here we are!"
He searched through a large number of printed extracts. There were
comments, long reports, and not a few notes, all under the heading: "The
Stowmarket Mystery."
Hume was now deeply agitated; he evidently restrained his feelings by
sheer force of will.
"Mr. Brett," he said, and his voice trembled a little, "surely you could
not have expected my presence here this morning?"
"I no more expected you than the man in the moon," was the reply; "but I
recognised you at once. I watched your face for many hours whilst you
stood in the dock. Professional business took me to the Assizes during
your second trial. At one time I thought of offering my services."
"To me?"
"No, not to you."
"To whom, then?"
"To the police. Winter, the Scotland Yard man who had charge of the
business, is an old friend of mine."
"What restrained you?"
"Pity, and perhaps doubt.
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