"
"I can conceive of no explanation."
"And yet there should be no combination of events for which the
wit of man cannot conceive an explanation. Simply as a mental
exercise, without any assertion that it is true, let me indicate
a possible line of thought. It is, I admit, mere imagination;
but how often is imagination the mother of truth?
"We will suppose that there was a guilty secret, a really
shameful secret in the life of this man Douglas. This leads to
his murder by someone who is, we will suppose, an avenger,
someone from outside. This avenger, for some reason which I
confess I am still at a loss to explain, took the dead man's
wedding ring. The vendetta might conceivably date back to the
man's first marriage, and the ring be taken for some such reason.
"Before this avenger got away, Barker and the wife had reached
the room. The assassin convinced them that any attempt to arrest
him would lead to the publication of some hideous scandal. They
were converted to this idea, and preferred to let him go. For
this purpose they probably lowered the bridge, which can be done
quite noiselessly, and then raised it again.
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