I was disappointed in the outcome of the negotiations,
but I did not ask for the letters. They were confidential, and Mr. Cameron
promised to regard them as such. When I left his office, Mr. Cameron was
at work at his desk. That is all I have to say."
"And I was in that suite that night," Jim Scoby broke in. "I went in
with a key I had had made, for the night-lock was on. I found Cameron
unconscious on the couch. Felix, the man who sits there, entered with me.
We were after the mine paper, and we got a copy of it. He will tell you
whether what I have said is the truth."
"What Scoby says is the truth," Felix grunted.
The three prisoners had the earnestness of men telling the truth.
They admitted having visited the Cameron suite on the night of the
tragedy, and told how and why they went there. At least they gave
good reasons for going, that of Don Miguel being legitimate, that
of the others based on crime, for they admitted that they went
there to steal a paper from the Tolford estate envelope, or,
at least, to copy it.
The three admitted all that Nestor had discovered, and nothing else.
Was this because they knew that he was certain of his facts regarding
the visits and the men who had made them? Anyway, there was no dispute
as to the details. It was the important conclusion that was denied.
"If you found Mr. Cameron lying there unconscious," Nestor asked of
Scoby, "why didn't you summon help? You had no cause for enmity against
him, had you?"
"I wasn't there as first aid to the wounded," replied Scoby, sullenly.
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