Langholm suddenly remembered the Australian swagman whom he had seen "knocking down his check" at a wayside inn within a few miles of Normanthorpe, and Steel's gratuitously explicit statement that neither he nor his wife had ever been in Australia in their lives.

There was one lie at least, then why not two?
Yet, the proven lie might have been told by Steel simply to anticipate and allay any possible suspicion of his wife's identity.

That was at least conceivable.

And this time Langholm sought the conceivable explanation more sedulously than the suspicious circumstance.
He had been far too precipitate in all that he had done hitherto, from the Monday morning up to this Wednesday night.

His departure on the Monday had been in itself premature.