"That's the story. From that the coroner's jury have found that Jack
killed Ben Armstrong--that he bought the pistol to kill him, and went
to his rooms with that purpose; that in his haste to escape, he missed
seeing that the elevator was down, as Mr. Newbold all but missed seeing
it later, and jumped into the shaft and was killed instantly himself.
That's what the jury get from the facts, but it seems to me they're
begging the question. There are a hundred hypotheses that would fit
the case of Jack's innocence--why is it reasonable to settle on the
one that means his guilt? This is my idea. Jack and Ben Armstrong had
been friends since boyhood and Jack, quick-tempered as he was, was
warm-hearted and loyal. It was like him to decide suddenly to go to Ben
and make friends. He had been to a play in the evening which had more
or less that _motif_; he was open to such influences. It was like
the pair of them, after the reconciliation, to set to work looking at
Jack's new toy, the pistol. It was a brand-new sort, and the two have
been interested always in guns--I remember how I, as a youngster, was
impressed when Ben and Jack bought their first shot-guns together. Jack
had got the pistol at Mellingham's that evening, you know--he was likely
to be keen about it still, and then--it went off. There are plenty of
other cases where a man has shot his friend by accident--why shouldn't
poor Jack be given the benefit of the doubt? The telephone wouldn't
work; Jack rushed out with the same idea which struck Mr. Newbold later,
of getting Dr. Avery--and fell down the shaft.

"For me there is no doubt. I never knew him to hold malice. He was
violent sometimes, but that he could have gone about for hours with
a pistol in his pocket and murder in his heart; that he could have
planned Ben Armstrong's death and carried it out deliberately--it's
a contradiction in terms. It's impossible, being Jack. You must know
this--you know your son--you know human nature."