Be careful, for your life may depend upon it."
"Bunkum!" said Mallow roughly, "I am not afraid."
"Then you ought to be," said Jennings quickly, "you were down
at Rose Cottage on that night and the knife is yours.
Certainly you have no motive, but Mrs. Octagon and Maraquito
will soon find one, if you don't fall in with their wishes.
However, you know what you have to do," and Jennings rose to
take his leave, first slipping the knife into his pocket.
"Wait a bit," said Cuthbert, rising. "I'll do what you say.
Just drop me a line when the meeting is to be. But I want to
tell you--At the Metropolitan Hotel at Brighton I met with
my bank manager."
"What of that?"
"He happens to be the manager of the bank where Miss Loach
kept her money and where Juliet keeps it now."
"Well," said Jennings, becoming suddenly attentive.
"He didn't tell secrets," went on Mallow, "but we got talking
of Basil, and the manager hinted that Basil had had a lucky
escape."
"From what?"
"I can't say. The manager--French, his name is--refused
to speak more openly, and of course he couldn't. But if Miss
Loach had not died, Basil would have got into trouble. He
didn't put the matter exactly in these words, but I gathered
as much."
"Humph!" said Jennings, his eyes on the carpet, "that supplies
a motive for Basil killing the old woman."
"Nonsense, Basil would not kill anything. He is a coward."
"When a rat is in the corner it fights," said the detective
significantly.
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