Strahan seemed to have some superstitious notion that the murderer might
be more secure from justice if his victim were thrust unavenged into the
tomb.




CHAPTER XXXVI.

The belief prevalent in the town ascribed the murder of Sir Philip to the
violence of some vulgar robber, probably not an inhabitant of L----. Mr.
Vigors did not favour that belief. He intimated an opinion, which seemed
extravagant and groundless, that Sir Philip had been murdered, for the
sake not of the missing purse, but of the missing casket. It was
currently believed that the solemn magistrate had consulted one of his
pretended clairvoyants, and that this impostor had gulled him with
assurances, to which he attached a credit that perverted into egregiously
absurd directions his characteristic activity and zeal.

Be that as it may, the coroner's inquest closed without casting any light
on so mysterious a tragedy.

What were my own conjectures I scarcely dared to admit,--I certainly could
not venture to utter them; but my suspicions centred upon Margrave. That
for some reason or other he had cause to dread Sir Philip's presence in
L---- was clear, even to my reason. And how could my reason reject all
the influences which had been brought to bear on my imagination, whether
by the scene in the museum or my conversation with the deceased? But it
was impossible to act on such suspicions,--impossible even to confide