Now I know they
probably did."
"That's what I guess. Somebody palmed a marked card on you, Brendon;
and you took it like a lamb. We all have in our time--even the
smartest of us. Gaboriau says somewhere, 'Above all, regard with
supreme suspicion that which seems probable and begin always by
believing what seems incredible.' French exaggeration, of course;
but there's truth in it. The obvious always makes me uncomfortable.
If a thing is jumping just the way that suits you, distrust it at
once. That holds of life as well as business."
They chatted for half an hour and Mr. Ganns attained his object,
which was to fling his companion back to the beginning of the whole
problem that had brought them together. He desired that Mark should
travel the ground again with an open mind and all preconceptions put
behind him.
"To-night, in the train," said Peter, "I shall ask you to give me
your version of the case from the moment that Mrs. Pendean invited
you to take it up--or from earlier still, if you had to do with any
of the people before the catastrophe.
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