"
"But I can't understand that," I said. "Why should Leithcourt have
attacked Chater, rendered him unconscious, and shut him up in the
cupboard in the library?"
"Was it Leithcourt who did that?" he asked dubiously. "I think not. It
was another of the guests who was Chater's bitterest enemy. But Philip
Leithcourt took advantage of the fracas in order to make believe that he
had fled because of Chater's arrival. Ah!" he added, "you haven't any
idea of their ruses. They are amazing!"
"So it seems," I said, nevertheless only half convinced that the Italian
was telling me the truth. If it was really, as he had said, that the
arrival of Chater and the flight was merely a "blind," then the mystery
was again deepened.
"Then who was the man who attacked Chater?" I asked.
"Only Chater himself knows. It was one of the guests, that is quite
evident."
"And you say that the flight had been prearranged?" I remarked.
"Yes, with a distinct motive," he said; then, after a pause, he added,
with a strange, earnest look in his dark eyes, "Pardon me, Signor
Commendatore, if I presume to suggest something, will you not?"
"Certainly.
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