I forget!"
"Perhaps this will supply the gap," said Jennings, and held
out the knife. "Do you recognize this?"
"Certainly. There are three notches in the handle. It is my
knife. Did you take it off the wall?"
CHAPTER XVI
JULIET'S STORY
Instead of answering, Jennings looked at Mallow. "It was the
merest chance I glanced at the wall and saw that one of the
arms which form that trophy was missing. It was also a chance
that I suggested the blank space might be filled up with this
knife. Are you sure it is your property?"
Mallow with a puzzled expression took the weapon in his hand
and examined it closely. "It is mine," he admitted, "on the
butts of my revolvers you will find I carve these notches. I
also did so on this bowie, which I bought in New York when I
went on my last big-game shoot to the Rockies. I marked my
things in this way so that the other fellows should not use
them by mistake. I brought back this knife, and although it
is not a pretty ornament, I fixed it up on the wall yonder. I
used it to cut up game. But if you did not take it off the
wall--and I confess I never missed it until you drew my
attention to the fact that it was missing--where did you get
it?"
Jennings scarcely knew what to say. Cuthbert talked of the
matter in so easy a manner that it was impossible to think he
had killed Miss Loach. Also he was not the sort of man to
murder an inoffensive old woman, the more especially as he--
on the face of it--had no motive to commit so brutal an act,
or to jeopardize his neck.
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