"The writing was really his?"

"I've compared it with another letter in Bendigo Redmayne's
possession. It's a peculiar fist. I should say there couldn't be a
shadow of doubt."

"What shall you do next?"

"Get back to Plymouth again and make close inquiries among the onion
boats. They go and come and I can trace the craft that left Plymouth
during the days that immediately followed the posting of Redmayne's
letter. These will probably be back again with another load in a
week or two. One ought to be able to check them."

"A wild-goose chase, Brendon."

"Looks to me as though the whole inquiry had been pretty much so
from the first. We've missed the key somewhere. How the man that
left Paignton in knickerbockers, and a big check suit and a red
waistcoat on the morning after the murder got away with it and never
challenged a single eye on rail or road--well, it's such a flat
contradiction to reason and experience that I can't easily believe
the face value."

"No--there's a breakdown somewhere--that's what I'm telling you; but
whether the fault is ours, or a trick has been played to put us
fairly out of the running, no doubt you'll find out soon or late. I
don't see there's anything more we can do up here whether or no."

"There isn't," admitted Mark. "It's all been routine work and a