the room Charles got through the window again, and followed him
downstairs.

"Charles' story, told to me when he was dying, filled in the gaps which
I have omitted. He said that he watched the whole of Benson's movements
from the window. He saw him searching for the money, saw him feel the
body, and saw the blood on his hands. When Benson turned to leave the
room he forgot the candle, and it was then that the idea of following
him leapt into Charles' mind. He divined that Benson would go downstairs
and wash the blood off his hands. Charles' idea was to go after him and
surprise him in the act. He followed him swiftly, and was never more
than a few feet behind. While Benson was striking a match and lighting
the kitchen candle Charles slipped into his own room, lit his own
candle, and then emerged from his door as though he had been disturbed
in his sleep. The rest of his plan was easily carried out through the
fears of Benson, who agreed, in his own interests, to conceal the body
of the man whom the other had murdered.

"The clue by which Penreath was virtually convicted--the track of
bootmarks to the pit--was an accidental one so far as Charles was
concerned. It is strange to think that Chance, which removed the clues
Charles deliberately placed in the room, should have achieved Charles'
aim by directing suspicion to Penreath in a different, yet more
convincing manner.

"The murderer's revelation clears up those points which I was unable to
settle this afternoon. He entered Mr. Glenthorpe's room during the
heaviest part of the storm. He carried a box, under his arm, because he
was too short to get into the window without something to stand on, he
shielded himself from the rain with an umbrella, which got caught on the
nail by the window, and he lit a tallow candle which he had brought from
the bar.

"Another clue, which I originally discovered and laid aside, is also
explained. The wound in Mr. Glenthorpe's body struck me as an unusual
one. You heard Sir Henry Durwood say, in answer to my questions, that
the blow was a slanting one, struck from the left side, entering almost
parallel with the ribs, yet piercing the heart on the right side. The
manner in which Mr. Glenthorpe's arms were thrown out, his legs drawn
up, proved that he was lying on his back when murdered. For that reason,
the direction of the blow suggested Charles as the murderer."

"I am afraid I do not follow you there," said Mr. Cromering.

"Cha