“No,” Gibbs told her, “you won’t be jailed for telling that,—if it’s true. But, if it isn’t,—you want to be careful about slander, you know.” Kate looked a little startled, but Mrs Everett laughed. “Don’t be afraid, Kate; Mr Gibbs can’t punish you for an opinion. You haven’t stated any facts.” “Except that she heard Miss Prall’s threat to kill Sir Herbert,” Gibbs reminded her. “It wasn’t a threat at all. I heard her say it, and it was merely an outburst of anger. I doubt if she meant it——” “Do you doubt her capable of committing such a crime?” the detective asked, so suddenly that he took his listener by surprise. But she was not to be caught. “My theory is,” she smiled, “that as Goethe says, ‘We are all capable of crime, even the best of us.’ I truly think that most human beings could commit crime, given sufficient motive and opportunity.” “All very fine in theory,” said Gibbs, smiling, “but are you willing to assert that Miss Prall or—or yourself, would be capable of the murder of Sir Herbert Binney, if you had a perfect opportunity and if you considered your motive strong enough?” “Oh, _I_ wouldn’t have done it!” and Mrs Everett looked shocked, indeed, “but,—well, maybe I do think Letitia Prall would have done it.” “Aided and abetted by Miss Gurney,” the detective egged her on. “Yes; Eliza would have been not only a help but a commander,—a tyrant, even.” “And Miss Gurney wished the old gentleman out of the way?” “Oh, yes; as much, perhaps, as Letitia. You see, if he died just now, his fortune would be young Bates’ and the boy could go on with his chosen career, without being pestered to make buns! Moreover, Sir Herbert favored Rickey’s marriage——” “To your daughter?” “To anybody,—any nice young woman. My daughter is out of the question and not to be spoken of in this connection.” Mrs Everett drew herself up in with an effect of injured dignity and looked scornfully at Gibbs. “But you seem to eliminate the young people themselves as factors in the romance part of it all.” “They are not factors. My daughter has sufficient confidence in my judgment to agree to my advice. She knows my attitude toward Miss Prall and she would not encourage or accept the attentions of her nephew.” “You’re sure of this?” “Of course I’m sure of it! Dorcas is a sweet, obedient child, and she would not deceive her loving and beloved mother. Also, she knows the despicable and unworthy nature of Miss Prall, and she assumes, as I do, that Richard is of the same stamp.” “Then you don’t know the young man? You only assume his character? Is that quite fair?” “Fair enough for anybody belonging to the Prall family! They cannot expect fairness! They wouldn’t even appreciate it! Letitia Prall is a mean, low type of womanhood,—a deceitful, unjust, disloyal, contemptible snake in the grass!”