distrust our American acquaintance, Peter Ganns. From the first
moment that Jenny's eyes fell upon that fine figure of a man, she
judged him to be built on a very different mental pattern from
Brendon. He was no New World edition of our poor, tame Marco; and
the preliminary fact that he should have anticipated us and arrived
beside Como before he was expected to do so, convinced Jenny that he
must prove a factor of extreme gravity in all future calculations.
I, too, perceived his force of character, and rejoiced to do so, for
here appeared an enemy worthy of my invention and resource.

It seemed clear that Pietro was a skeptical person--doubtless made
so by his dreadful trade. "Thomas" rather than "Peter" should have
been his name. He had a disconcerting habit of taking nothing for
granted; and his "third eye" as he called it--an eye of the
mind--saw a great many things concealed from ordinary observers. He
would have made a classical criminal.

The artist's pride, that had prevented me from acting so that Ganns
should have been invited to discover the murderer of Albert rather
than set the task of preserving his friend's life--this false,
foolish sense of superiority and security wrecked all. Had Albert
slept beneath the waters of Como before Ganns arrived, then not the
wit of twenty Peters had ever found him; but while no man living
could have saved the life of Redmayne, since had I determined to
take it, the predestined sequel to his death was confounded by my
own error. Once more Ganns struck before I expected him to do so and
I was, too late, confronted with the shattering truth. He had in
fact found me out. He returned to England, worked like a mole, dug
up my history, no doubt, and so came to the logical conclusion that
it appeared more reasonable Michael Pendean should murder Robert