"No," said Roger, honestly, looking at them, "I can't say that I do. But what do you mean?"
"I mean that the postmistress--old and stupid, as you say she is--has made a mistake, and delivered the packet to Monsieur Judas."
"Not at all. Judith Varlins is generally called Miss Varlins, I presume, so the Christian name Judith would not occur to this old woman. On the other hand, the odd name Judas would, and knowing that extraordinary-looking Frenchman to be called Judas, she--I mean the postmistress--would naturally hand the packet over to him."
"But surely he would refuse to receive it?"
"I don't know so much about that. In the first place, he might have thought the packet was for him, and in the second, his natural curiosity would make him take it home to examine. When he found what the packet contained, he kept it."
"How dense you are, Roger!" said Fanks, irritably. "He was a friend of Melstane's, and seeing the letters were addressed to Melstane, he very likely kept them by him to return to his brother scamp."
"Then you think Monsieur Judas has the packet?"
"I'm certain of it. We'll call and see what we can do to-morrow."
"All right; but why are you so anxious to get the packet?"
"For several reasons. I believe that packet to contain letters to Melstane, not only from Miss Marson, but from her father also; and I further believe," continued Fanks, sinking his voice to a whisper, "that in that packet is contained the secret of Melstane's death."
"But you surely don't suspect Mr. Marson?" cried Roger, aghast.
Octavius rolled up the paper upon which Roger had been writing and threw it into the fire as he answered, with marked emphasis on the latter part of his reply:
". . . I feel much more at ease now I have seen Roger . . . He has explained away my suspicions . . . It is true that his story tells very much against him, but to my mind this fact assures me of his innocence, as no guilty man would tell a story so much against himself . . . Yes, I am sure he is not guilty . . . He acted foolishly in obeying Miss Varlins' instructions--in keeping the truth from me at Jarlchester . . . Nevertheless, his conduct has not been that of a guilty man, and whosoever poisoned Sebastian Melstane, it was certainly not Roger Axton . . .