“What do you mean, sir?” “I mean that you are not keeping strictly to your duty. You seem to be taking upon yourself a great many things which it is not your business to do—certainly you are assuming a great many prerogatives that you have no right to.” “What do you mean, sir?” reiterated the detective. “Tut, tut, my dear sir,” said Westerham, “sit down and try to compose yourself, while I endeavour to explain the precise situation. “First,” Westerham continued, emphasising the “first” by touching his left forefinger with his right,[Pg 105] “although I am not very much acquainted, thank goodness, with criminal procedure in this country, I am at least aware of this—that the law of England regards every man as innocent until he has been proved guilty. But you, under some misapprehension of your duties, appear to assume that I am guilty until I have proved myself innocent. [Pg 105] “Now, of what am I guilty? Nothing except of absenting myself from my rooms, which it is my innocent privilege and pleasure to do. You inquire of my antecedents. What do they matter to you? They are my business alone. “However,” he went on, eyeing the now disconcerted Mr. Rookley,[Pg 106] “in order that you may not be too harsh in your judgments I will enlighten your ignorance to a certain extent. I came here on the introduction of Lord Dunton, who is a most intimate friend. I paid six months' rent in advance. I furnished these rooms at no small expense, and I purchased one of the best motor cars on the market. [Pg 106] “Now I wish particularly to draw your attention to the fact that I did not offer to pay for any of these things by cheque. I paid for them all out of hand by bank-note. In fact, you will see for yourself that since I took up my abode here I must have spent perhaps a couple of thousand pounds; all of which I have paid out in hard cash. “Were these bank-notes stolen? Certainly not. Had they been, the fact must inevitably have been discovered. No, strange as it may seem to you, I came by those notes quite honestly. “It is not your business to do so, but if you care to take the trouble you are at perfect liberty to trace them. However, to save you unnecessary labour, I may as well tell you that those notes were paid over to me by Lord Dunton, in return for a cheque which I gave him. Why I
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