"It's no use being bloodthirsty," she informed him. "As for Bates--! Oh, I do wish you'd stop getting ideas into your head!"
"I can't. It's the sort of head that gets 'em!"
"Well, I wish you'd draw the line at Bates! Why, I've known him all my life!"
"There is always some one to say that about any criminal. Always some one to say it isn't possible. The awful thing is, it is possible."
"But--Bates! How could any one associate the idea of murder with that gentle, harmless old man? Ridiculous!"
"He was devoted to your father because Mr. Copley stood by him when he didn't know where to turn. He had been in trouble. Did you know that?"
"Vaguely--from Bates himself. Why? What trouble was it?"
"Starvation. He had difficulty finding work because no one wished to employ a man who had just been pardoned out of a penitentiary where he was serving a life sentence for murder."
"It can't be!" she whispered at length. "Not Bates! It can't be _true_!"
"He was married in those days, and the other man was guilty of breaking up the home. Extenuating circumstances, you see. He was lucky enough to have a lawyer who didn't lose interest when the prison swallowed him, and he brought the matter to the attention of a new Governor who pardoned Bates after he had served five years. Your father happened on him when he was near the end of his rope, gave him sanctuary and helped him bury the past. That is his story."
"I persuaded him to. I've noticed ever since I've been in the house that he was shaky, nervous--_worried_. Three times out of five, when you see a servant in that condition following a mysterious crime, you can look for the explanation in a shady past. I tackled him from that basis. He didn't need much urging--in fact, he told me he had half made up his mind to come to me with the story of his own accord. I believe him. He had been in mortal terror lest the police discover it." Creighton paused in order to study her serious, thoughtful face. "He asked me to tell you this."
"He seems devoted to you. He had wanted to tell you himself, but could never quite find the courage. He has wanted you to know the truth about him, but has never been able to forget the way others used to receive it. He has taken some hard knocks."