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of Mr. Stewart Ferrers cleared up. I already know enough to be sure he ought never to have been arrested.”
    Stute nodded, smiling. “That’s right, Beef,” he said, “you go ahead.”
    â€œOnly,” said Beef, “I think it would save a lot of time and trouble for all parties if you was to tell me on what you base your case against Stewart Ferrers.”
    Still Stute remained unruffled. “Oh, you do,” he said. “Well now. Look here. You run along like agood chap and don’t take up our time. I’m pleased to see you again, but really, this sort of thing is too urgent for me to be delayed by anyone.”
    Peter Ferrers suddenly stood up. “Well, I think I’ll leave you two to discuss the matter between yourselves,” he said. “I have no wish to hear the whole case over again.” And he walked out of the room.
    Beef had been sucking gently at the ends of his moustache. Then, “That’s not hardly fair, Inspector Stute,” he burst out as soon as Peter Ferrers had left the room. “You know very well what’s always done in these cases. You tell me what you know, and I tell you what I know, and we’re all Sir Garnet.”
    Stute sighed. “Well, very briefly I’ll outline to you the case,” he said. “It’s so clear that anyone who’s even read the newspapers probably understands it. Only, I would ask you, Beef, not to start a lot of discussion afterwards. You really mustn’t presume on the luck you had in that other matter to take up time elsewhere. First of all, and most important, Stewart’s finger-prints were quite clearly on the handle of the dagger with which Benson was murdered, and no other finger-prints were on it. Then again, Stewart had quarrelled with Benson that evening, as we found out from Duncan, and their quarrel had been a serious one. Stewart was alone in the house with Benson, except for the servants, at the time of the murder. The butler, the cook, and the two housemaids can surely be left out of suspicion for lack of motive, or even capacity.
    â€œThen there is the evidence of the chauffeur-gardener. Stewart most carefully gave him the evening off, but he also cross-examined him on the subject of pre-selection gears, knowing that Benson’s car had these. His idea was to drive Benson away in his own car and let him be found, having apparently committed suicide, in some place from which he himself could walk home. Then again, we have a document which you haven’t seen yet. I don’t really know why I should show it to you, but since it will probably convince you once and for all that you’re wasting my time in hanging around here, here it is. This, I may say, was found in Stewart’s pocket when he was arrested.”
    He pulled out of his pocket a piece of folded paper about eight inches by four, on which had been typewritten these remarkable words:
    â€œ
Received of St. Vincent Ferrer, forty seven years of hellish life now to be ended, with a total profit of £500.
”
    There was a twopenny stamp below this across which was the signature of Benson.
    â€œNow,” said Stute, “our handwriting experts have made a thorough examination of this document, and they say that the signature is the genuine signature of Benson. What is the inference? It is perfectly obvious. This was a document prepared for Benson to sign under the impression that he was signing a receipt for five hundred pounds, but actually serving as a preadmission of suicide. Having refilled Benson’s glass with whiskya number of times, and having paid him the money, Stewart handed him the receipt to sign, and Benson had no idea that he was signing his own death warrant.
    â€œStewart’s idea, then, had been to put Benson in his own car and drive away to some lonely spot where he would leave him with the dagger in his throat, his hand on the dagger, and the document showing that he