wo or
three alternative suggestions, all of which are feasible. The deceased
man was shot at close quarters, and was found in such an attitude as to
suggest that he was wholly unprepared for the attack. We know that he
was in some fear and that he invariably went armed; yet it is fairly
certain that he made no attempt to draw his weapon, which he certainly
would have done had he been suddenly confronted by an armed stranger.

"I do not pretend that I am explaining the strange relationship between
Merrill and this mysterious forger. Merrill is the only man who has seen
him and has given a vague and somewhat confused description of him. 'He
was a man with a short, close-clipped beard' is Merrill's description.
The woman who served him with tea near Uckfield describes him as a
'youngish man with a dark mustache, but otherwise clean shaven.'

"There is no reason, of course, why he should not have removed his
beard, but as against that suggestion we will call evidence to prove
that the man seen driving with the murdered chauffeur was invariably a
man with a mustache and no beard, so that the balance of probability is
on the side of the supposition that Merrill is not telling the truth. An
unknown client with a large deposit at his bank would not be likely
constantly to alter his appearance. If he were a criminal, as we know
him to be, there would be another reason why he should not excite
suspicion in this way."

His address covered the greater part of a day--but he returned to the
scene in the garden, to the supposed meeting of the two men, and to the
murder.

Saul Arthur Mann, sitting with Frank's solicitor, scratched his nose and
grinned.

"I have never heard a more ingenious piece of reconstruction," he said;
"though, of course, the whole thing is palpably absurd."

As a theory it was no doubt excellent; but men are not sentenced to
death on theories, however ingenious they may be. Probably nobody in the
court so completely admired the ingenuity as the man most affected. At
the lunch interval on the day on which this theory was put forward he
met his solicitor and Saul Arthur Mann in the bare room in which such
interviews are permitted.

"It was really fascinating to hear him," said Frank, as he sipped the
cup of tea which they had brought him. "I almost began to believe that
I had committed the murder! But isn't it rather alarming? Will the jury
take the same view?" he asked, a little troubled.

The solicitor