There, in all probability, it would remain for ever, for it would never occur to the police that whoever wielded whatever weapon it was that struck the blow would not carry the weapon away with him.

No--on the point of the stick Mallalieu began to feel easy and confident.
He grew still easier and more confident about the whole thing during the course of the afternoon.

He went about the town; he was in and out of the Town Hall; he kept calling in at the police-station; he became certain towards evening that no suspicion attached to himself--as yet.
But--only as yet.

He knew something would come out.

The big question with him as he went home in the evening was--was he safe until the afternoon of the next day?
While he ate and drank in his lonely dining-room, he decided that he was; by the time he had got through his after-dinner cigar he had further decided that when the next night came he would be safely away from Highmarket.
But there were things to do that night.