We suspect that he is not
the rightful owner--that, in short, he is no more the real Marston Greyle
than you are. We think that he's an impostor--posing as Marston Greyle.
Other people--Mrs. Valentine Greyle, for example--evidently think so,
too. Am I right?"
"Quite!" responded Petherton. "That's our position--exactly."
"Then--in that case, what I want to get at is this," continued Sir
Cresswell. "How does this relate to my brother's death? What's the
connection? That--to me at any rate--is the first thing of importance. Of
course I have a theory. This, that the impostor did see my brother last
Sunday afternoon. That he knew that my brother would at once know that
he, the impostor, was not the real Marston Greyle, and that the
discovery would lead to detection. And therefore he put him out of the
way. He might accompany him to the top of the tower and fling him down.
It's possible. Do you follow me?"
"Precisely," replied Petherton. "I, too, incline to that notion, though
I've worked it out in a different fashion. My reconstruction of what took
place at Scarhaven Keep is as follows--I think that Bassett Oliver met
the Squire--we'll call this man that for the sake of clearness--when he
entered the ruins. He probably introduced himself and mentioned that he
had met a Marston Greyle in America. Then the Squire saw the
probabilities of detection--and what subsequently took place was most
likely what you suggest.
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