be warded off by the Englishman's evidence, and all would be
well. But the attempt was a dangerous one, and if Garcia did NOT
return by a certain hour it was probable that his own life had
been sacrificed. It had been arranged, therefore, that in such a
case his two subordinates were to make for some prearranged spot
where they could escape investigation and be in a position
afterwards to renew their attempt. That would fully explain the
facts, would it not?"

The whole inexplicable tangle seemed to straighten out before me.
I wondered, as I always did, how it had not been obvious to me
before.

"But why should one servant return?"

"We can imagine that in the confusion of flight something
precious, something which he could not bear to part with, had
been left behind. That would explain his persistence, would it
not?"

"Well, what is the next step?"

"The next step is the note received by Garcia at the dinner. It
indicates a confederate at the other end. Now, where was the
other end? I have already shown you that it could only lie in
some large house, and that the number of large houses is limited.
My first days in this village were devoted to a series of walks
in which in the intervals of my botanical researches I made a
reconnaissance of all the large houses and an examination of the
family history of the occupants. One house, and only one,