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And he can do anything with 'em too, plays his banjo and sings and makes 'em laugh. The mines belong to the Farringmore family, you know Lord Wilchester owns 'em. But he never comes near, and a' course the men gets discontented and difficult. And they're a nasty drinking lot too. Why, the manager that's Mr. Ashcott he's at his wit's end sometimes.
Tallington suddenly began to drum his fingers on the blotting-pad which lay in front of him. From this point he watched Cotherstone with an appearance of speculative interest which was not lost on Brereton. "Ah!" he remarked quietly. "You were Mallalieu's or Mallows' catspaw? That is he was the really guilty party in the Wilchester affair, of Which that's an account?"
It was literally in a breathless silence that the old man told the story of the crime of thirty years ago; it was a wonderfully dramatic moment when he declared that in spite of the long time that had elapsed he recognized the Mallalieu and Cotherstone of Highmarket as the Mallows and Chidforth whom he had known at Wilchester. Even then Mallalieu had not flinched.
"Yes well, it might ha' been a pound or two more or less," said the old man, "but two thousand was what they called it. And of course Mallows and Chidforth were prosecuted and they got two years. Oh, yes, we remember that case very well indeed in Wilchester, don't we, Maria?" "And good reason!" agreed Mrs. Pursey warmly. "There were a lot of poor people nearly ruined by them bad young men."
So the name of Wilchester was familiar enough to Stoner. And now he wanted to know what what what made it so familiar to Cotherstone that Cotherstone absent-mindedly scribbled it all over a half-sheet of foolscap paper? But the figures? Had they any connexion with the word?
Pursey was shortly to talk about Wilchester to some purpose and with no drawing-out from Stoner or anybody. "Well," remarked Myler, having supplied his guests with spirituous refreshment, and taken a pull at his own glass. "I'm glad to see you, Stoner, and so's the missis, and here's hoping you'll come again as often as the frog went to the water.
The superintendent had risen and was taking down his overcoat. "Do you know that this woman's leaving the town tomorrow?" he said. "And there's her nephew with her, now been here for a week? Of course, I understand why you've told me all this, Mr. Cotherstone now that your old affair at Wilchester is common knowledge, far and wide, you don't care, and you don't see any reason for more secrecy?"
It was uppermost in his thoughts at the time and as he sat there, pen in hand, he had written it down, half-unconsciously, over and over again.... There it was Wilchester Wilchester Wilchester. The reiteration had a peculiar interest for Stoner. He had never heard Cotherstone nor Mallalieu mention Wilchester at any time since his first coming into their office.
Lord Wilchester talked of motoring down the other day, bringing friends if you please to see the mine, I warned him off the damn' fool! Simply asking for trouble, as I told him. 'Well, what's the matter? he said. 'What do they want? 'They'd like houses instead of pigsties for one thing, I said. And he laughed at that. 'Oh, let 'em go to the devil! he said.
The old detective, accidentally settling down at Highmarket, had recognized Mallalieu and Cotherstone, the prosperous tradesmen of that little, out-of-the-way town, as the Mallows and Chidforth whom he had seen in the dock at Wilchester, and he had revealed his knowledge to one or the other or both. That was certain. But there were many things that were far from certain.
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