“Then, Dr. Priestley, Inspector Hanslet came upon the scene, and I knew that the real battle of wits had begun. As I have told you, I had spent years studying the characters of the members of the jury, and among them I had devoted a large part of my time to observing you. I soon discovered that Inspector Hanslet consulted you upon his principal cases, and I knew as soon as Hanslet appeared, that I was at last pitted against the most acute brain in England. I may say, without exaggeration, that the knowledge gave me the keenest pleasure which I had known for years.” The Black Sailor paused, and smiled at his auditor benignly. “You see, Dr. Priestley,” he continued, “I was in rather a delicate position, where you were concerned. I had purposely left you until the last, because, as foreman of the jury, Dr. Morlandson wished you to have special treatment. You were to be warned, but your fate was to be left hanging over your head as long as possible. I was afraid that you would not attach much importance to the mere receipt of a counter. You are not the sort of person to be so easily frightened. Yet how to deliver a personal warning without giving you a clue which would be fatal to the execution of my design, I could not see. “I knew Inspector Hanslet had discussed the Praed Street murders with you. Or rather, in deference to your well-known insistence upon exactitude, I will say that I believed it to be in the highest degree probable. During one of my evening walks, accompanied, I may say, by one of Inspector Whyland’s charming young men, I passed your house, and saw Inspector Hanslet enter it. It was rather more than a mere guess to infer that he, who had just taken charge of the case, was about to consult you upon it. “Then, a day or two later, I saw in _The Times_ the announcement of your hurried departure to Australia. Believe me, Dr. Priestley, I had a higher opinion of your courage than to imagine that you had hastened to seek a place of safety. I reasoned, and events proved that I reasoned correctly, that you alone had connected the names of the dead men with those who had served on the jury at Dr. Morlandson’s trial. You were therefore aware that your own life was threatened. But one thing puzzled you. If Dr. Morlandson were dead, how could the murders be accounted for? You would naturally wish to verify his death upon the spot, but you would endeavour to do so with the utmost secrecy. Hence, I thought, the announcement of your visit to Australia, which would mislead your antagonist, and account for your absence from London. The place in which to find you alone was obviously the Isle of Purbeck.