"He might not if he was a hardened criminal," said the detective coolly. "But the man is a weak, hysterical fool, alive with nerves. He wept at the news of Grent's death; he fainted on seeing the Blue Mummy. A man who has so little command over himself will not be difficult to coerce into confession."
Torry glanced at his watch. "Ten thirty," he said, "and it is almost that now. I say, Mr. Darrel, it was a lucky thought of mine that the tramp might have robbed the dead body."
"Well, he stole the knife in the first place, so I judged he would help himself to whatever valuables he could find. It seems he did and pawned the locket he stole. Then he saw one of my handbills offering a reward, and turned up last night to tell me the truth. I went with him to the pawn-shop, redeemed the locket, paid my friend two pounds and congratulated myself that the initials on the locket implicated Vass."
"Quite sure. When I first met him I ascertained that his name was Gustavus, so G.V. can stand for nothing else than Gustavus Vass; the name is an uncommon one. Besides, he must have guessed that the unexpected visit of Donna Maria had to do with the transference of the money to Grent."
"Oh, oh!" said Frank, turning round from the mirror at which he was brushing his hair. "So you think the motive of the crime is robbery, not jealousy."
"Both! The motive of the first crime was robbery, of the second jealousy--and perhaps a trifle of vengeance."
"It is not difficult," replied Torry with a shrug. "Listen! In some way, I can't say how--Vass became aware that Julia, at the instigation of Miss Hargone, was to meet Grent in Mortality-lane. He watched and followed, witnessed the interview, and when Grent gave the money to Julia, sprang forward in a fit of jealous rage and killed him. Then he forced Julia into the cab, and drove to the end of Northumberland-Avenue. He took her down to Cleopatra's Needle on some pretence, killed her out of revenge for her betraying him, and robbed her of the money. Then he tried to throw her body into the river, but was interrupted and fled. That is my theory, and a very nice one it is."
"It would be better," responded Darrel drily, "if it were not so full of flaws."