apon belonged to Bishop George Pendle, Captain George
Pendle, or to Mr Gabriel Pendle.'

Inspector Tinkler looked up aghast. 'By Jupiter! sir, you don't mean to
tell me that you suspected the bishop? Damme, Mr Baltic, how dare you?'

Now the missionary was not going to confide in this official thick-head
regarding Cargrim's suspicions of the bishop, which had led him to
connect the pistol with the prelate; so he evaded the difficulty by
explaining that as the lent money was a link between the bishop and
Jentham, and the initials on the pistol were those of his lordship, he
naturally fancied that the weapon belonged to Dr Pendle, 'although I
will not go so far as to say that I suspected him,' finished Baltic,
smoothly.

'I should think not!' growled Tinkler, wrathfully. 'Bishops don't murder
tramps in England, whatever they may do in the South Seas!' and he made
a third note, 'Memo.--To ask his lordship if he lost a pistol.'

'As Captain George Pendle is a soldier, Mr Inspector, I fancied--on the
testimony of the initials--that the pistol might belong to him. On
putting the question to him, it appeared that the weapon was his
property--'

'The devil!'

'But that he had lent it to Mr Gabriel Pendle to protect himself from
roughs when that young gentleman was a curate in Whitechapel, London.'

'Well, I'm--d--blessed!' ejaculated Tinkler, with staring eyes; 'so Mr
Gabriel killed Jentham!'

'Don't jump to conclusions, Mr Inspector. Gabriel Pendle is innocent. I
never thought that he was guilty, but I fancied that he might supply
links in the chain of evidence to trace the real murderer. Of course,
you know that Mr Gabriel lately went to Germany?'

'Yes, I know that.'

'Very good! As the initials "G. P." also stood for Gabriel Pendle, I was
not at all sure but what the pistol might be his. For the moment I
assumed that it was, that he had shot Jentham, and that the stolen money
had been used by him.'

'But you hadn't the shadow of a proof, Mr Baltic.'

'I had the pistol with the initials,' retorted the missionary, 'but, as
I said, I never suspected Mr Gabriel. I only assumed his guilt for the
moment to enable me to trace the actual criminal. To make a long story
short, Mr Inspector, I went up to London and called at Cook's office.
There I discovered that Mr Gabriel had paid for his ticket with a
ten-pound note. That note,' added Baltic, impressively, 'was one of
those given by the bishop to Jentham and stolen b