’The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the sudden death of Mr. Oliver Hobart, the late editor of the Daily Haste, have resulted in conclusive evidence that the tragedy was due to Mr. Hobart’s accidental stumbling and falling.  His fall, which was audible to the other inmates of the house, took place after the departure of Mr. Arthur Gideon, with whom he had been talking.  A statement to this effect has been made by Miss Clare Potter, who was staying in the house at the time, and who was at the time of the inquest too much prostrated by the shock to give evidence.’

It was a retraction all right, and all that could be expected of the
Pinkerton Press.  In its decision and emphasis I read scare.

I didn’t give much more thought just then to the business.  I was pretty busy with meetings and committees, and with rehearsals of A New Way to pay Old Debts, which we were playing to the parish in a week.  I had stage-managed it at Oxford once, and had got some of the same people together, and it was going pretty well but needed a good deal of attention.  I had, too, to go away from town for a day or two, on some business connected with the Church Congress.  Church Congresses keep an incredible number of people busy about them beforehand; besides all the management of committees and programmes and side-shows, there is the management of all the people of divergent views who won’t meet each other, such as Mr. George Lansbury and Mr. Athelstan Riley. (Not that this delicate task fell to me; I was only concerned with Life and Liberty.)

On the day after I came back I met Jane at the club, after lunch.  She came over and sat down by me.

‘Hallo,’ she said.  ‘Have you been seeing the Haste?’

‘I have.  It’s been more interesting lately than my own paper.’

’Yes....  So Arthur’s acquitted without a stain on his character.  Poor mother’s rather sick about it.  She thought she’d had a Message, you know.  That frightful Ayres woman had a vision in a glass ball of Arthur knocking Oliver downstairs.  I expect you heard.  Every one did....  Mother went round to see her about it the other day, but she still sticks to it.  Poor mother doesn’t know what to make of it.  Either the ball lied, or the Ayres woman lied, or Clare is lying.  She’s forced to the conclusion that it was the Ayres.  So they’ve had words.  I expect they’ll make it up before long.  But at present there’s rather a slump in Other Side business....  And she wrote a letter of apology to Arthur.  Father made her, he was so afraid Arthur would bring a libel action.’

‘Why didn’t he?’ I asked, wondering, first, how much of the truth either Arthur or Jane had suspected all this time, and, secondly, how much they now knew.

Jane looked at me with her guarded, considering glance.