"Robin," said Herrick rolling up the papers, "Frisco met him, went to his chambers, and disclosed the fact that he was his father. Ha! Between the two of them they wrote this letter so as to frighten Mrs. Marsh into giving them the money through her influence over Stephen. Robin typed the letter and sent it. The little scamp. He did not tell me that. Humph! I shall go again to town and see him. Then Frisco must be produced from his hiding-place. Robin can and shall do that." This was all very well, but still the mystery of Carr's death was unsolved. Mrs. Marsh was innocent. She declared Frisco to be guilty. On the face of it, he was. But Herrick had his doubts. The case was getting more difficult at every fresh discovery. For the first time he mistrusted his own powers of dealing with the matter. "I must consult Stephen and Bess," said Dr. Jim, and left the house. In his pocket was the confession of the late Mrs. Marsh. CHAPTER XXIII THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS For the next twenty-four hours, Dr. Jim kept his counsel. He said sufficient to set Stephen's mind at rest about his mother, but did not tell the whole story or show the confession which he had obtained from Petronella. He wanted to turn matters over in his own mind before doing this. The fact is Jim was getting a little weary of the whole affair. Every new piece of evidence that came to light seemed only to complicate it. He had felt sure that the paper left by Mrs. Marsh would solve the mystery; but although it told much it did not reveal all. She declared in a half-hearted sort of way that Frisco was guilty. But she gave no proofs; the man in that hurried conversation at the door, had denied the charge, and beyond the fact of his flight there was no evidence against him. It occurred to Jim that the best thing to do would be to drop the matter altogether. It seemed useless to follow such a will-o-the-wisp. "Still I do not like to do this on my own responsibility," he thought after much consideration, "it will be best for me to lay all the facts before Bess and Stephen, and go by what they say. If they want to go on with it, well and good. If not, I shall end it at once." With this idea, a most sensible one under the circumstances. Herrick called a council of war. Bess came over from Biffstead, and met Stephen and Jim in the library by appointment. There Herrick again told the whole story of his dealings with the matter, and ended up by placing Mrs. Marsh's letter and its enclosure before them. When the Squire and Bess had read the documents, and were in possession of all the facts connected with the murder of Colonel Carr, Herrick made a speech to them on that basis.