"No; but it leads up to what may be of importance. God knows whether it will or not, but drowning men catch at a straw. I am glad you are working with Mr. Cornwall, sir; it is easy to see how he is suffering, and you must be a comfort to him--if," he added, feelingly, "anybody _can_ comfort him at such a time as this. Well, sir, Linton and I have also been putting our heads together, and we decided to set a watch." "Upon whom?" "Upon that image of wickedness, Jeremiah Pamflett, and his equally wicked mother. Sir, that tale of hers as to what took place between her and Miss Farebrother on the night of the murder is false as--Never mind; it will not do to be profane." "That is to say, you believe it to be false? You have no direct evidence to the contrary?" "No, sir; unfortunately we have not. It is our belief, as you say, but none the less incontrovertible. It is not because we have dramatic ideas that we determined to watch this precious pair. It seemed to us to offer a chance of discovering something; therefore we set practically to work, Linton watching the son, I watching the mother. Until this evening we saw nothing that could be turned against them. You are probably aware that Mrs. Pamflett left Parksides shortly after the murder?" "She had to leave," remarked Fred; "as Miss Farebrother's legal representative, I saw to that before the trial took place." "Quite proper. And her son had to leave the London office and seek lodgings elsewhere?" "Yes; that was also effected through me."