Lexman had."

He fumbled in his pocket and pulled it out gingerly, and T. X.
took it from him.

"I'll look after your prisoner; you go down to the village, get
any help you can and make a most careful search in the place where
this man was killed and bring me the revolver which you will
discover. You'll probably find it in a ditch by the side of the
road. I'll give a sovereign to the man who finds it."

The constable touched his hat and went out.

"It looks rather a weird case to me," said T. X., as he came back
to the table, "can't you see the unusual features yourself,
Lexman! It isn't unusual for you to owe money and it isn't
unusual for the usurer to demand the return of that money, but in
this case he is asking for it before it was due, and further than
that he was demanding it with threats. It is not the practice of
the average money lender to go after his clients with a loaded
revolver. Another peculiar thing is that if he wished to
blackmail you, that is to say, bring you into contempt in the eyes
of your friends, why did he choose to meet you in a dark and
unfrequented road, and not in your house where the moral pressure
would be greatest? Also, why did he write you a threatening
letter which would certainly bring him into the grip of the law
and would have saved you a great deal of unpleasantness if he had
decided upon taking action!"

He tapped his white teeth with the end of his pencil and then