"What's all this writing about?" asked Hurd, turning over the closely-written sheets. "To save time you had better give me a precis of the matter. Is it important?" "Very I should say," responded Paul, emphatically. "It contains an account of Norman's life from the time he left Christchurch." "Hum." Hurd's eyes brightened. "I'll read it at my leisure, but at the present moment you might say what you can." "Well, you know a good deal of it," said Paul, who did the talking at a sign from Sylvia. "It seems that Norman--we'd better stick to the old name--left Christchurch because he was afraid of being accused of murdering Lady Rachel." "Was she really murdered?" "Norman doesn't say. He swears he knows nothing about the matter. The first intimation he had was when Jessop came down with the news after blundering into the wrong bedroom. But he hints that Mrs. Krill killed her." "Can he prove that?" "No. He can't give any proof, or, at all events, he doesn't. He declares that when his wife and daughter--" "Oh! does he call Maud his daughter?" "Yes! We can talk of that later," said Paul, impatiently. "Well, then, Norman says he went fairly mad. Jessop had bolted, but Norman knew he would not give the alarm, since he might be accused himself of killing Lady Rachel. Maud, who had seen the body, wanted to run out and call the neighbors." "How old does Norman say she was?" "About fifteen; quite old enough to make things unpleasant." "Then she can't inherit the money," said Hurd, decisively. "No," cried Beecot, quickly, "both Sylvia and I think so. But to go on with Norman's confession. He would not let Maud go. She began to scream, and he feared lest she should alarm the neighbors. He tied a handkerchief across her lips, but she got free, and again began to scream. Then he cruelly fastened her lips together with the opal brooch." "Where did he get that, if innocent?" "He declared that he spied it on the floor of the sitting-room, near his wife's feet, and then hints that she strangled Lady Rachel to get it and turn it into money as she was desperately in need of cash for Maud. Mrs. Krill idolized the child." "I know that," snapped Hurd. "Go on." "When Norman fastened the child's lips together, Mrs. Krill threw herself on him in a rage. He knocked her insensible, and then ran away. He walked through the night, until, at dawn, he came to a distant railway station. There he took a ticket and went to London. He concealed himself until there was no chance of his being discovered, and besides, saw the verdict of the jury in the newspapers. But he was determined he would not go back to his wife, because she threatened him." "In what way?" "Ah," said Paul, while Sylvia shuddered, "in a strange way. When he fastened the child's lips together, Mrs. Krill said that she would do the same to him one day and with the same brooch." Hurd uttered an exclamation. "So that was why she wanted the brooch so much?" he exclaimed eagerly.