have
not been able to find the actual spot where the body of Wynne and, later
on, that of Collins was first concealed, but I have no doubt that they
were brought from that spot to be discovered by us. It was very necessary
for the body of Wynne to be discovered, since the bullet in his brain was
fired from Miss Brellier's revolver. It was all part of the plot against
Sir Nigel. How bitter was that plot is evidenced by the removal of the
bodies to the place they were discovered on the Fens--no very pleasant
job for any man."

Cleek whirled suddenly upon Borkins, who stood with bent head and pallid
face, biting his lips and twisting his hands together, while Cleek's
voice broke the perfect silence of the court. But thus taken by surprise,
he lifted his head, and his mouth opened.

The judge raised his hand.

"Is this true, my man?" he demanded.

Borkins's face went an ugly purplish-red. For a moment it looked as
though he were going to have an apoplectic fit.

"Yes--damn you all--yes!" he replied venomously. "That's how I did
it--though Gawd alone knows how he come to find it out! But the game's
up now, and it's no more use a-lyin'."

"Never a truer word spoken," returned Cleek, with a little triumphant
smile. "I must admit, your Lordship, that upon that one point I was a
little shaky. Borkins has irrefutably proved that my theory was correct.
I must say I am indebted to him." Again the little smile looped up one
corner of his face. "And I have but just a little bit more of the tale to
tell, and then--I must leave the rest of it in your infinitely more
capable hands.

"... The reason why I mistrusted the story of the revolver? Why, upon
examination, that instrument belonging to Miss Brellier was a little too
clean and well-oiled to have been out of use for a matter of five months
or so. The worthy user of it had cleaned and polished it up, so as to be
sure of its action, and re-oiled it. So the 'dog story' was exploded
almost at its birth. The rest was easy to follow up, and knowing the
position of things between Borkins and his master (from both sides, so to
speak), I began to put two and two together. Borkins has, this moment,
most agreeably told me that my answer to the sum is correct. But things
worked in well for him, I must say. That Sir Nigel should actually fire
a shot upon that very night was a stroke of pure luck for the servant who
hated him. And it made his chance of fabricating the whole plot against