to be congenial to a quick-witted Latin.
Why, then, was he picked out from all the other people whom Garcia met
as particularly suited to his purpose? Has he any one outstanding
quality? I say that he has. He is the very type of conventional
British respectability, and the very man as a witness to impress
another Briton. You saw yourself how neither of the inspectors dreamed
of questioning his statement, extraordinary as it was."

"But what was he to witness?"

"Nothing, as things turned out, but everything had they gone another
way. That is how I read the matter."

"I see, he might have proved an alibi."

"Exactly, my dear Watson; he might have proved an alibi. We will
suppose, for argument's sake, that the household of Wisteria Lodge are
confederates in some design. The attempt, whatever it may be, is to
come off, we will say, before one o'clock. By some juggling of the
clocks it is quite possible that they may have got Scott Eccles to bed
earlier than he thought, but in any case it is likely that when Garcia
went out of his way to tell him that it was one it was really not more
than twelve. If Garcia could do whatever he had to do and be back by
the hour mentioned he had evidently a powerful reply to any accusation.
Here was this irreproachable Englishman ready to swear in any court of
law that the accused was in the house all the time. It was an
insurance against the worst."

"Yes, yes, I see that. But how about the disappearance of the others?"

"I have not all my facts yet, but I do not think there are any
insuperable difficulties. Still, it is an error to argue in front of
your data. You find yourself insensibly twisting them round to fit
your theories."

"And the message?"

"How did it run? 'Our own colours, green and white.' Sounds like
racing. 'Green open, white shut.' That is clearly a signal. 'Main
stair, first corridor, seventh right, green baize.' This is an
assignation. We may find a jealous husband at the bottom of it all.
It was clearly a dangerous quest. She would not have said 'Godspeed'
had it not been so. 'D'--that should be a guide."

"The man was a Spaniard. I suggest that 'D' stands for Dolores, a
common female name in Spain."

"Good, Watson, very good--but quite inadmissable. A Spaniard would
write to a Spaniard in Spanish. The writer of this note is certainly
English. Well, we can only possess our soul in patience until this
excellent inspector come back f