"Oh, hang your Australian cousin. I don't believe he ever existed. Mr. Vance, I swear that I found that eye amongst Mr. Monk's luggage. You must believe, in the face of that," he pointed to the case, which was still open in my hand, "that Mr. Monk is guilty." "No, I don't, if this"--I shook the case--"is all the evidence you can bring." Monk heaved a sigh of relief, and Striver stared uneasily. "On what grounds do you say that?" he asked grimly. "On the grounds of common-sense, Mr. Striver. I saw the eye on a small table in the drawing-room of The Lodge, near the middle French window." "Mr. Monk placed it there: it only proves his guilt more conclusively." "I think not. In the first place, if Mr. Monk had been possessed of the eye he would scarcely be such a fool as to leave it about. In the second case, when I re-entered the drawing-room the eye had disappeared, and all the time from when I saw it to when I returned to the room Mr. Monk was with me. He could not have secured it again, even though--according to you--he placed it there, which I don't believe. _You_ took the eye from the table." "How dare you say that!" cried the man, but his color changed, and I guessed that my chance remark asserted the truth. "On what grounds----" "You have supplied the grounds yourself," I said quickly, "by saying that you found the eye in Mr. Monk's dressing-bag. You found the watch case, but you certainly brought the eye to place in it, for the furtherance of your infernal plans. You were working in the garden, Striver, and saw by my face, when I came out to meet Mr. Monk, that I was startled. Out of curiosity and jealousy you went up to the window, saw the eye, and secured it. Finding that I supported Miss Monk, and you could not incriminate her, you made use of the eye to incriminate Mr. Monk." "I do not," he stuttered, changing color again and again. "You did, and by your own showing. For all I know, you may have placed the eye on the table, since it was easy to do so with the window open." "How could I get the eye? Do you accuse me of murder?" "The police might if they knew all that we know. But I shall give you the benefit of the doubt, and say that you found the eye in the shop after the murder was committed." "But according to the police," said Monk doubtfully, "the murder was committed for the sake of the eye." "Of course it was," insisted Striver, "and by you." "I am perfectly innocent." "In that case, how did you get your money unless by----" "Stop!" I interrupted impulsively, "there also I can defend Mr. Monk. Long before the murder, he was living as wealthy Mr. Wentworth Marr in London, as Lord Cannington informed me. If he did not get the money until the eye was found--and by your own showing, Mr. Striver, he could only find the hidden treasure in that way--how could he pose long before as a rich man? Answer me that, Mr. Striver."