"In other words, it is all too
obvious. Yet I have failed once, Knox, failed disastrously, and it may
be that in my anxiety to justify myself I am seeking for subtlety where
no subtlety exists."
CHAPTER XXV
AYLESBURY'S THEORY
There were strangers about Cray's Folly and a sort of furtive activity,
horribly suggestive. We had not pursued the circular route by the high
road which would have brought us to the lodge, but had turned aside
where the swing-gate opened upon a footpath into the meadows. It was
the path which I had pursued upon the day of my visit to the Lavender
Arms. A second private gate here gave access to the grounds at a point
directly opposite the lake; and as we crossed the valley, making for
the terraced lawns, I saw unfamiliar figures upon the veranda, and knew
that the cumbersome processes of the law were already in motion.
I was longing to speak to Val Beverley and to learn what had taken
place during her interview with Inspector Aylesbury, but Harley led the
way toward the tower wing, and by a tortuous path through the
rhododendrons we finally came out on the northeast front and in sight
of the Tudor garden.
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