No, Mark, the man responsible for
these impossible things isn't mad. And that brings me back to my
preliminary alternative.
"I said just now, 'Either Robert Redmayne killed Michael Pendean, or
else he did not.' And we may add that either Robert Redmayne killed
Bendigo Redmayne or else he did not. But we'll stick to the first
proposition for the moment. And the next question you must ask
yourself is this. 'Did Robert Redmayne kill Michael Pendean?' That's
where your 'facts,' as you call them, begin to sag a bit, my son.
There's only one sure and certain way of knowing that a man is dead;
and that is by seeing his body and convincing the law, by the
testimony of those who knew the man in life, that the corpse belongs
to him and nobody else."
"Good God! You think--"
"I think nothing. I want you to think. This is your funeral--so
far; but I want you to come out like the sun from behind a cloud and
surprise us yet. Just grasp that matters couldn't have happened as
you supposed, and go on from there.
Pages:
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283