Had he shot Whitmore, a chorus of accusations would have gone up instantly.

His own wife would have volunteered to become a witness against him.

She loved Whitmore and hated Collins.

Ward would have denounced him in unmistakable terms.
Beard would have been shouting his guilt from the housetops.

Far from uniting in a conspiracy to shield him, they would have allied themselves with us to avenge the death of the merchant." Manning and Greig were listening with faculties intensely alert, carried along by the irresistible course of Britz's logic.