"He had a business peculiarity," replied Mr. Halfpenny, "and it was well known to people in his line of business. You know that Jacob Herapath had extensive, unusually extensive, dealings in real property--land and houses. Quite apart from the Herapath Flats, he dealt on wide lines with real estate; he was always buying and selling. And his peculiarity was that all his transactions in this way were done by cash--bank-notes or gold--instead of by cheque. It didn't matter if he was buying a hundred thousand pounds' worth of property, or selling two hundred thousand pounds' worth--the affairs had to be completed by payment in that fashion. I've scolded him about it scores of times; he only laughed at me; he said that had been the custom when he went into the business, and he'd stuck to it, and wasn't going to give it up. God bless me!" concluded Mr. Halfpenny, with emphasis. "I ought to know, for Jacob Herapath has concluded many an operation in this very room, and at this very table--I've seen him handle many a hundred thousand pounds' worth of notes in my time, paying or receiving! And, as I said, the mere picking up of a hundred pound note from his desk is--why, it's no more than if I picked up a few of those coppers that are lying there on my chimney-piece!" "Just so, just so!" observed Mr. Tertius mildly. "Jacob was a very wealthy man--the money evidence was everywhere." But Professor Cox-Raythwaite only laughed and smote the table with his big fist. "My dear Halfpenny!" he exclaimed. "Why, you've just given us the very best proof of what I've been saying! You're not looking deeply enough into things. The very fact to which you bear testimony proves to me that a certain theory which is assuming shape in my mind may possibly have a great deal in it. That theory, briefly, is this--on the day of his death, Jacob Herapath may have had upon his person a large amount of money in bank-notes. He may have had them paid to him. He may have drawn them from his bank, to pay to somebody else. Some evil person may have been aware of his possession of those notes and have tracked him to the estate offices, or gained entrance, or--mark this!--have been lurking--lurking!--there, in order to rob him. Don't forget two points, my friend--one, that Barthorpe (if he's speaking the truth, and I, personally, believe he is) tells us that the doors of the offices and the private room were open when he called at twelve o'clock; and, too, that, according to Mountain, the coachman, Jacob Herapath had been in those offices since twenty-five minutes to twelve--plenty of time for murder and robbery to take place. I repeat--Jacob may have had a considerable sum of money on him that night, some one may have known it, and the motive of his murder may have been--probably was--sheer robbery. And we ought to go on that, if we want to save the family honour." Mr. Tertius nodded and murmured assent, and Mr. Halfpenny stirred uneasily in his chair.