Zirknitz looked at Ellis. "Can I speak freely?" he asked doubtfully.
"Certainly. The doctor is my best friend."
"Ah! so charming to have a best friend. Hear, then, monsieur, and you, my dear Laura. When I was at Dukesfield on the night Edgar was killed--"
"Why," said Ellis, with something of anger in his tones, "you told me you were not at Dukesfield on that night."
Zirknitz shrugged his handsome shoulders. "I told a lie! Oh, yes, I always tell a lie when necessary. I did not know Laura wished me to speak, so I told what was not true. What would you, monsieur? Your questions were indiscreet. My answers were false. _Voila!_"
"Never mind excusing yourself, Rudolph. What about Mr. Busham?"
"Eh, my dear sister, I believe he killed our poor Moxton! Why not? I saw the excellent Busham in Dukesfield on the night of the death."
Lounging in his chair, Zirknitz made this astonishing statement as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Mrs. Moxton looked at Ellis in surprise, and both looked at Rudolph.
"Eh, _mon cher_, most assuredly. I tell lies only when necessary."
"Rudolph, you must explain how it was you came to be in Dukesfield on that night."
"My dear sister, did I not say I would come for Janet?"
"No," chimed in Ellis. "Polly Horley said the same thing."
Rudolph smiled in a most engaging manner.
"Ah, that excellent Horley! How much she knows of what she knows not. My sister, have I your permission to smoke?"
Mrs. Moxton impatiently nodded an assent. "But I am waiting to hear how you did not come for Janet and yet were in Dukesfield on that night."
With great deliberation, Zirknitz selected a cigarette from his silver case and lighted it before making any reply. Selfish in his every act, he offered none to Ellis--an omission which troubled that gentleman very little. He had no great love for this egotistical butterfly.
"My Laura," said Rudolph, blowing a whiff of smoke, "on that night I was playing cards in the _salon_ of the music-hall, and I won twenty pounds from Edgar. He had not the money, but he gave me an 'I O U.' Then, most furious at his loss, he drank and drank till he was as a wild beast. I was going for Janet, and at the station I saw our Edgar; but to avoid him I went in another carriage. At the station of Dukesfield, I tried to run from him; but he saw me and followed; _quelle bêtise_. There was trouble, and he wished to fight. So when he went home I saw it was foolish to come for Janet, as Edgar would be raging. I took back another train, and a cab to my rooms in Bloomsbury. _Voila_, the story!"