“Because of his face?”

“His face? But⁠—”

“Yes, I know what you’re going to say. It’s a sinister face. That’s just it. No man with a face like that could be really sinister. It must be a colossal joke on the part of Nature.”

I did not believe much in Suzanne’s argument. I know a lot about Nature in past ages. If she’s got a sense of humour, she doesn’t show it much. Suzanne is just the sort of person who would clothe Nature with all her own attributes.

We passed on to discuss our immediate plans. It was clear to me that I must have some kind of standing. I couldn’t go on avoiding explanations forever. The solution of all my difficulties lay ready to my hand, though I didn’t think of it for some time. The Daily Budget ! My silence or my speech could no longer affect Harry Rayburn. He was marked down as the man in the brown suit through no fault of mine. I could help him best by seeming to be against him. The Colonel and his gang must have no suspicion that there existed any friendly feeling between me and the man they had elected to be the scapegoat of the murder at Marlow. As far as I knew, the woman killed was still unidentified. I would cable to Lord Nasby, suggesting that she was no other than the famous Russian dancer Nadina who had been delighting Paris for so long. It seemed incredible to me that she had not been identified already⁠—but when I learnt more of the case long afterwards I saw how natural it really was.