And that done he showed himself such a perfect listener that he never opened his lips until Stoner had set forth everything before him in detail.

Now and then he nodded, now and then his sharp eyes dilated, now and then he clapped his hands.

And in the end he smote Stoner on the shoulder.
"Stoner, old sport!" he exclaimed.

"It's a sure thing! Gad, I never heard a clearer.

That five hundred is yours--aye, as dead certain as that my nose is mine! It's--it's--what they call inductive reasoning.
The initials M.and C .-- Mallows and Chidforth--Mallalieu and Cotherstone--the two thousand pounds--the fact that Kitely was at Wilchester Assizes in 1881--that he became Cotherstone's tenant thirty years after--oh, I see it all, and so will a judge and jury! Stoner, one, or both of 'em killed that old chap to silence him!" "That's my notion," assented Stoner, who was highly pleased with himself, and by that time convinced that his own powers, rather than a combination of lucky circumstances, had brought the desired result about.