"
"You can do what you damn please about that," said Barker
defiantly.
The proceedings seemed to have come to a definite end so far as
he was concerned; for one had only to look at that granite face
to realize that no peine forte et dure would ever force him to
plead against his will. The deadlock was broken, however, by a
woman's voice. Mrs. Douglas had been standing listening at the
half opened door, and now she entered the room.
"You have done enough for now, Cecil," said she. "Whatever comes
of it in the future, you have done enough."
"Enough and more than enough," remarked Sherlock Holmes gravely.
"I have every sympathy with you, madam, and should strongly urge
you to have some confidence in the common sense of our
jurisdiction and to take the police voluntarily into your
complete confidence. It may be that I am myself at fault for not
following up the hint which you conveyed to me through my friend,
Dr. Watson; but, at that time I had every reason to believe that
you were directly concerned in the crime. Now I am assured that
this is not so. At the same time, there is much that is
unexplained, and I should strongly recommend that you ask Mr.
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