"How long have you allowed us to waste ourselves upon a search that you knew to be an absurd one ?" "Not one instant, my dear Mr.Mac.Only last night did I form my views of the case.

As they could not be put to the proof until this evening, I invited you and your colleague to take a holiday for the day.

Pray what more could I do?
When I found the suit of clothes in the moat, it at once became apparent to me that the body we had found could not have been the body of Mr.John Douglas at all, but must be that of the bicyclist from Tunbridge Wells.

No other conclusion was possible.
Therefore I had to determine where Mr.John Douglas himself could be, and the balance of probability was that with the connivance of his wife and his friend he was concealed in a house which had such conveniences for a fugitive, and awaiting quieter times when he could make his final escape." "Well, you figured it out about right," said Douglas approvingly.

"I thought I'd dodge your British law; for I was not sure how I stood under it, and also I saw my chance to throw these hounds once for all off my track.