“Your wife and Miss Saunders were not very friendly?” A fierce light rose in the fixed eyes, the nostrils widened. [Pg 176] [Pg 176] “What are you getting at, Mr. Rawson?” “Our business, Mr. Stokes. We’re here to investigate a murder and we can’t spare people’s feelings or shut our eyes to disagreeable facts.” “Have I shown any signs of expecting that? I’ve put myself at your disposal, my wife has. We’re ready to give you any help we can, but I’m not ready to back up any damned suspicions that have been put into your mind.” “We’re not asking you to,” said Rawson. “But we know what was going on here before the shooting.” Bassett spoke up: “I’m the person that told them, Aleck. It had to be done. They had to be acquainted with the whole situation, and they got it from me. But they heard no lies, no suppositions—you know you can trust me for that.” Stokes’ glance shifted to him. Through its savage defiance Bassett could detect the torment of his soul, despairingly betrayed to the one person he knew would be just. [Pg 177] [Pg 177] “Oh, I’m not blaming you,” he answered: “You couldn’t do anything else. And they can hear it all from me.” He looked at the two men. “I don’t want to keep anything back. You don’t have to use any of your third-degree methods with me. I’m willing to tell. I was in love with her, madly, like a fool, hounded her, dogged her footsteps. You’ve heard that. And my wife was jealous—so jealous they all could see. You’ve heard that too.” The confession of his passion, remorseless in its bitter revelation, was horrible, like the tearing aside of wrappings from a raw wound. “Yes, we’ve heard it,” muttered Williams. “She hated me. I don’t know whether you’ve heard that too, but I’m telling you and
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