"So the old man says. As though a woman ever died of such a thing! She caught a chill, and was carried off because she was not sufficiently well nourished; that is the truth, although old Roper prefers to put it down to me. If he had fed her better she would be alive now. But he chooser to think I killed her, and would do me a serious injury it he could. I am glad the bill did not fall into his hands. Where did you get it?" he asked, turning to Geoffrey. "Or if you can tell me the name of the person who had it I can tell you who was the assassin of Jenner. Oh, it is quite true. Jenner shewed me the bill that night by the Waggoner's Pond. I would have taken it by force, but he was stronger than I; there was no chance of my getting the better of him. But I noticed that he took it out of a red pocket-book. Now, that pocket-book was never produced at the trial, so the assassin must have it." "Then you don't think Mrs. Jenner killed him?" "She? She wouldn't have killed a fly. No, she did not kill him. If she had, that red pocket-book would have been produced in court. I have been living in fear ever since, wondering who had it, though I always intended to make use of the murder should the assassin have tried to blackmail me. Who did you get the bill from, Heron?" "I did not got it from anyone. Jenner evidently thought that you might come after him to steal it, so, according to his wife, he sewed it up in the body of a toy horse with which his child had been playing. Lately Neil wished to give this toy to George Chisel, so it came into Ruth's possession. The boy cut it open, and Miss Brawn found the bill. She gave it to me and I at once saw Roper about it. Besides, I read up my father's diary and found that his name had been forged." "Did he know that I had done it?" "Yes. Roper called on him to tell him so. If my father had not died, Mr. Marshall, you would have found yourself in prison for forgery." "No, I should not. You forget that Jenner stole the bill. No one could have prosecuted me without producing the document. I know enough law for that. Besides, I had paid the money to Roper, and that I did only to avoid a scandal. Does Ruth know about this, or Miss Brawn, or George?" "They know nothing," replied Mr. Cass. "Ruth does not even know of the existence of this bill. George is but a child, and took no notice of it. As for Miss Brawn, she thinks the signature is all right. She will hold her tongue. Oh, you are quite safe so far. But this murder. I feel certain that you committed it; no one else could have had so powerful a motive."