A face like an angel and a heart
like a devil. Let time pass and presently you'll see that this is
merely a hiatus in a career that is only begun. Much good and
valuable work lies before you; and to abandon a profession for which
you are specially suited is to fly in the face of Providence
anyway."
After a pause and a long silence, while the train sped through the
darkness of the Simplon tunnel, Peter retraced the steps by which he
had been enabled to solve the riddle of the Redmaynes.
"I told you that you had not begun at the beginning," he said. "It's
really all summed up in that. You occupied an extraordinary
position. The criminal himself, in the pride of his craft and by
reason of the consuming vanity that finally wrecked him,
deliberately brought you in. It was part of his fun--his art if you
like--that he should involve a great detective for the added joy of
making a fool of him. You were the spice in his bloody cup for
Michael Pendean--the salt, the zest. If he had merely stuck to
business, not a thousand detectives would ever have queered his
pitch.
Pages:
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432