hought of it!
And--what do you make out of that, now?"

"Nothing," replied Jettison. "But--a good deal out of what I've learned
since that bit of a discovery. Now, put it to yourself--whoever it was
that paid Collishaw that fifty pounds in gold did it with a motive. More
than one motive, to be exact--but we'll stick to one, to begin with. The
motive for paying in gold was--avoidance of discovery. A cheque can
be readily traced. So can banknotes. But gold is not easily traced.
Therefore the man who paid Collishaw fifty pounds took care to provide
himself with gold. Now then--how many men are there in a small place
like this who are likely to carry fifty pounds in gold in their pockets,
or to have it at hand?"

"Not many," agreed Mitchington.

"Just so--and therefore I've been doing a bit of secret inquiry amongst
the bankers, as to who supplied himself with gold about that date,"
continued Jettison. "I'd to convince 'em of the absolute necessity
of information, too, before I got any! But I got some--at the third
attempt. On the day previous to that on which Collishaw handed that
fifty pounds to Stebbing, a certain Wrychester man drew fifty pounds in
gold at his bank. Who do you think he was?"

"Who--who?" demanded Mitchington.

Jettison leaned half-across the desk.

"Bryce!" he said in a whisper. "Bryce!"

Mitchington sat up in his chair and opened his mouth in sheer
astonishment.

"Good heavens!" he muttered after a moment's silence. "You don't mean
it?"

"Fact!" answered Jettison. "Plain, incontestable fact, my lad. Dr. Bryce
keeps an account at the Wrychester bank. On the day I'm speaking of he
cashed a cheque to self for fifty pounds and took it all in gold."

The two men looked at each other as if each were asking his companion a
question.

"Well?" said Mitchington at last. "You're a cut above me, Jettison. What
do you make of it?"

"I said last night that the young man was playing a deep game,"
replied Jettison. "But--what game? What's he building up? For mark you,
Mitchington, if--I say if, mind!--if that fifty pounds which he drew in
gold is the identical fifty paid to Collishaw, Bryce didn't pay it as
hush-money!"

"Think not?" said Mitchington, evidently surprised. "Now, that was my
first impression. If it wasn't hush-money--"

"It wasn't hush-money, for this reason," interrupted Jettison. "We know
that whatever else he knew, Bryce didn't know of the accident to Braden
until Varner fetched h