"No, he never knew I had it. I put it away, and afterwards sent it up to the garret, where I thought it would be safe. Hardly anyone ever goes there but myself. Besides, if I had told Frank, he would have worried Job about giving him the bill, and Heaven only knows what would have happened then. No, I was wrong, I suppose, but I acted for the best. When Frank told me that he had seen you, and that the bill was in your possession, I went up to the garret, intending to find the pocket-book and destroy it. Then I was foolish enough to ask Ruth; she found it by chance--and--well, you know the rest." "Yes, I know the rest," said Mr. Cass, grimly; "and, among other things. I know that Job Lovell killed Jenner, and that the dead man's unhappy wife has been punished all these years. Inez, I know you always hated her, but would you have let her lose her life?" "No; if she had been in danger of that, I would have come forward and told all I knew, even at the cost of disgrace; I would not have had the blood of a fellow-creature on my soul. But, to tell you the truth, Sebastian, as Mrs. Jenner did not defend herself, I really believed she was guilty, and Job innocent. He confessed to having robbed Jenner; she would say nothing; so of the two, I thought Job the innocent one. Can you blame me?" "Partly. I blame you for not having told me this long ago. I always suspected your husband. Now I know that he is innocent; and I should have known it all along, seeing that he was in the house--in my house--when the crime was committed. If you had spoken out, I would have managed to get Mrs. Jenner off in some way without exposing the whole of this dreadful story. Job should be punished." "Think what that would mean to us all," said his sister, warningly. "I will contrive to evade the worst. But I must have that poor woman released!" CHAPTER XXVII. A DOUBTFUL WITNESS. His sister's attitude puzzled Mr. Cass less than might have been expected. On leaving her he went straight to the Turnpike House to interview the gypsy. The first thing was to get the truth out of Job; then he would try to arrive at some settlement of the question which would be satisfactory to the world, to justice, and to his conscience. The door of the house was closed when he rode up. He dismounted, gave his horse to his groom, and told the man to take him home. "I have to see this gypsy," he explained. "I find he is here without Mr. Heron's permission. I shall probably remain some time, and I don't want Sultan to get cold. Go home." "Yes, sir," said the man, and then ventured to add a few words on his own account. "Shan't I wait, sir? Joe Lovel is a rough customer." "I know," Mr. Cass said, calmly. "I am prepared for that. I shall return in an hour, more or less. If Mr. Heron should come to Hollyoaks, ask him to wait for me." The man rode off, leading his master's horse. Mr. Cass waited until they were out of sight, then knocked vigorously at the door. There was no response.