Haken shrugged his shoulders. "Unless it was Jadby--no," he replied thoughtfully. "Jadby was in London, and did not return until later. You heard his evidence in Court." "Then Agstone must be guilty." "Agstone certainly hated his master," said Haken. "Why," Prelice looked astonished, "I understood that Agstone was devoted to Sir Oliver." "So Lanwin said, and everyone believed. But the fact is--as I learned from Madame Marie--that Agstone was Lanwin's slave. Sir Oliver knew something about him, which he used as a threat, and so kept him in bondage. Lanwin was not a pleasant character," ended the city man, twirling his cigar. "Oh," Prelice sunk his chin in his breast, and thought. He knew well enough that so far as the evidence of the knife was concerned, Agstone could not possibly be guilty. Nevertheless, since Agstone had brought the missing will to his brother--and the assassin could only have procured that will--it would seem that the old sailor, after all, had struck the blow. But why had he tried to put the blame on Mona both by placing the knife in her hand and by accusing her? "Did Madame Marie say that Agstone hated Mona?" asked Prelice, raising his head. "No! On the contrary, I understand that Agstone liked Miss Chent because she was kind to him. Sir Oliver, however, was of a jealous disposition, and Agstone was afraid to display his liking." "Do you suppose that Madame Marie herself killed Lanwin?" "Certainly not; she had nothing to gain by doing so, and, moreover, lost a valuable client by Lanwin's death. Marie is fond of money too. She wants to make all she can, so as to marry Jadby. She is strangely infatuated with that rascal." "Jadby is good-looking in a way," replied Prelice. "Humph! It seems to me that we are as far as ever from learning the truth." "No doubt," assented his uncle; "still, one thing is certain, that I did not kill Lanwin. As to Agstone----" he hesitated. "You are not going to confess that you killed him?" said Prelice, with a wry smile. Haken chuckled. "No; I never tell unnecessary lies. But I certainly saw him dead and Shepworth insensible." "Oh!" Prelice was quite unmoved, "so you did make use of that key?" "No," said Haken again, and unexpectedly; "there was no need to. I went down, intending to remonstrate with Shepworth on behalf of Rover, and found that the door was unfastened. I entered, and saw--what you saw--so at once I came upstairs, reclosing the door as I had found it." "Why didn't you give the alarm?" "What, with Jadby hanging about, already intending to blackmail me for Lanwin's death? I should have given myself into the hands of the Philistines with a vengeance had I raised the alarm." "I see. So Jadby was the Continental swell whom you told me that you were to meet?" "Yes. He insisted upon seeing me at the ball. Why he chose such a place I don't know, and how he got to the ball I can't imagine."