"I believe you thought, on first seeing him, that the prisoner's face was familiar to you, Mr. Viner?" "Yes--I certainly think that I have seen him before, somewhere." "You can't recollect more? You don't know when or where you saw him?" "I don't. But that I have seen him, perhaps met him, somewhere, I am certain." This induced the magistrate to urge the accused man--who had steadfastly refused to give name or address--to reveal his identity. But the prisoner only shook his head. "I would rather not give my name at present," he answered. "I am absolutely innocent of this charge of murder, but I quite realize that the police are fully justified in bringing it against me. I had nothing whatever to do with Mr. Ashton's death--nothing! Perhaps the police will find out the truth; and meanwhile I had rather not give my name." "You will be well advised to reconsider that," said the magistrate. "If you are innocent, as you say, it will be far better for you to say who you are, and to see a solicitor. As things are, you are in a very dangerous position." But the prisoner shook his head. "Not yet, at any rate," he answered. "I want to hear more." When the proceedings were over and the accused, formally remanded for a week, had been removed to the cells previous to being taken away, Viner went round to Drillford's office. "Look here!" he said abruptly, finding the Inspector alone, "I dare say you think I'm very foolish, but I don't believe that chap murdered Ashton. I don't believe it for one second!" Drillford who was filling up some papers, smiled. "No?" he said. "Now, why, Mr. Viner?" "You can call it intuition if you like," answered Viner. "But I don't! And I shall be surprised if I'm not right. There are certain things that I should think would strike you." "What, for instance?" asked Drillford. "Do you think it likely that a man who must have known that a regular hue and cry would be raised about that murder, would be such a fool as to go and offer one of the murdered man's rings within a mile of the spot where the murder took place?" asked Viner. Drillford turned and looked steadily at his questioner. "Well, but that's precisely what he did, Mr. Viner!" he exclaimed. "There's no doubt whatever that the ring in question was Ashton's; there's also no doubt that this man did offer it to Pelver this morning. Either the fellow is a fool or singularly ignorant, to do such a mad thing! But--he did it! And I know why." "Why, then?" demanded Viner. "Because he was just starving," answered Drillford. "When he was brought in here, straight from Pelver's, he hadn't a halfpenny on him, and in the very thick of my questionings--and just think how important they were!--he stopped me. 'May I say a word that's just now much more important to me than all this?' he said. 'I'm starving! I haven't touched food or drink for nearly three days. Give me something, if it's only a crust of bread!' That's fact, Mr. Viner."