"It looks like it. But I tell you what, Mr. Prain," cried Gebb, emphatically, "as sure as I sit here Dean is innocent! Whosoever killed Miss Gilmar was expected by her; was a friend with whom she was at her ease; that is proved by the smoking and the wine. She would not have been at ease with Dean." "He might have been disguised as a fortune-teller," suggested Prain. "No, I don't believe it. No disguise could have hidden him from the eyes of a woman who feared him so. Whosoever killed that woman, it wasn't Dean." "Then why is Ferris shielding Dean?" "We don't know if he is; you, yourself, said that he denied it." "I know I did; I know he does!" cried Prain, in despair. "God bless my soul, what a case this is! The more we talk about it the more confused does it become. I tell you what, Gebb, your only chance of arriving at the truth lies in either forcing Ferris to confess where he got the necklace, or in hunting down Dean." "I'll try the first of your suggestions at once," said Gebb, putting on his hat. "And if Ferris won't confess to me, I'll write and ask Miss Wedderburn to come to town." "What good can she do?" "She can make him confess the truth. What the man won't do for justice he may do for love. However, I'll see him at once. Justice will make the first attempt--Love the second." "And both will fail!" cried Prain. "You'd better catch Dean, my good man." "That's easier said than done," retorted Gebb; and the two parted, each more or less exasperated. And very naturally, for the perplexities of the Grangebury murder case were enough to anger the mildest natures, and those of Prain and Gebb were rather the reverse. Irritated and puzzled by the complexion of affairs, Gebb did not let the grass grow under his feet, but at once visited the prison in which Arthur Ferris was confined. He easily obtained permission to see him and entered to find the young man looking ill and worn, but as firm as ever in his policy of silence, Gebb came to the reason of his visit forthwith. "Well, Mr. Ferris, you are a nice gentleman to stay here, when a word from you in the Court would clear you of all this." "What word?" asked Ferris, suspecting a snare, and speaking cautiously. "Why! word where you were at the time of the murder. I know you did not kill Miss Gilmar." "How do you know that?" asked the young man, with a start. "Because you were in the Grangebury Town Hall listening to the lecture on Dickens," replied Gebb. "Mr. Alder told me." "It is very kind of Alder to defend me," replied Ferris, frankly, "Yes, Mr. Gebb, it is quite true. I was not near Miss Gilmar on that night. I am innocent." "Then why didn't you say so?" "I did, several times." "But why don't you produce your alibi?" "Because I don't choose to," retorted Ferris, slowly, and turned sulky again. "So you are shielding your father, after all?" "Who told you about my father?" he asked tremulously.