I heard that you were
accused by Captain Hervey, and so last night I wrote that letter
and posted it in London, thinking that you would yield to save
yourself from arrest."
Random laughed cynically.
"You must have thought me weak," he muttered.
"I did," said Mrs. Jasher frankly. "To tell you the truth, I
thought that you were a fool. But by tracing that letter and
withstanding my demand, you have proved yourself to be more
clever than I took you to be. Well, that is all. I know nothing
of the murder. My letter is sheer bluff to extort from you five
thousand pounds. Had you paid I should have passed it off to the
Professor as the money left to me by my brother. But now--"
"Now," said Random, rising to go, "I shall tell what you have
told me to the Professor, and--"
"And hand me over to the police," said Mrs. Jasher, shrugging her
plump shoulders, "Well, I expected that. Yet I fancied for old
times' sake that you might have been more lenient."
"We were never anything but acquaintances, Mrs. Jasher," said
Random coldly, "so I fail to see why you should expect mercy
after the way in which you have behaved. You expect to blackmail
me, and yet go free. I must punish you somehow, so I shall tell
Professor Braddock, as you certainly cannot marry him.
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