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“Why！Whatonearth？It’sSOAP！No！——youscoundrel。Don’tyoumovethathand。“
“It’ssoap，“saidMr。Ledbetter。“Fromyourwashstand。Nodoubtit——“
“Don’ttalk，“saidthestoutman。“Iseeit’ssoap。Ofallincrediblethings。“
“IfImightexplain——“
“Don’texplain。It’ssuretobealie，andthere’snotimeforexplanations。WhatwasIgoingtoaskyou？Ah！Haveyouanymates？“
“Inafewminutes，ifyou——“
“Haveyouanymates？Curseyou。IfyoustartanysoapypalaverI’llshoot。Haveyouanymates？“
“No，“saidMr。Ledbetter。
“Isupposeit’salie，“saidthestoutman。“Butyou’llpayforitifitis。Whythedeucedidn’tyoufloormewhenIcameupstairs？
Youwon’tgetachancetonow，anyhow。Fancygettingunderthebed！
Ireckonit’safaircop，anyhow，sofarasyouareconcerned。“
“Idon’tseehowIcouldproveanalibi，“remarkedMr。Ledbetter，tryingtoshowbyhisconversationthathewasaneducatedman。
Therewasapause。Mr。Ledbetterperceivedthatonachairbesidehiscaptorwasalargeblackbagonaheapofcrumpledpapers，andthatthereweretornandburntpapersonthetable。Andinfrontofthese，andarrangedmethodicallyalongtheedgewererowsandrowsoflittleyellowrouleaux——ahundredtimesmoregoldthanMr。
Ledbetterhadseeninallhislifebefore。Thelightoftwocandles，insilvercandlesticks，felluponthese。Thepausecontinued。“Itisratherfatiguingholdingupmyhandslikethis，“saidMr。Ledbetter，withadeprecatorysmile。
“That’sallright，“saidthefatman。“ButwhattodowithyouIdon’texactlyknow。“
“Iknowmypositionisambiguous。“
“Lord！“saidthefatman，“ambiguous！Andgoesaboutwithhisownsoap，andwearsathunderinggreatclericalcollar。YouAREabloomingburglar，youare——ifevertherewasone！“
“Tobestrictlyaccurate，“saidMr。Ledbetter，andsuddenlyhisglassesslippedoffandclatteredagainsthisvestbuttons。
Thefatmanchangedcountenance，aflashofsavageresolutioncrossedhisface，andsomethingintherevolverclicked。Heputhisotherhandtotheweapon。AndthenhelookedatMr。Ledbetter，andhiseyewentdowntothedroppedpince-nez。
“Full-cocknow，anyhow，“saidthefatman，afterapause，andhisbreathseemedtocatch。“ButI’lltellyou，you’veneverbeensoneardeathbefore。Lord！I’Malmostglad。Ifithadn’tbeenthattherevolverwasn’tcockedyou’dbelyingdeadtherenow。“
Mr。Ledbettersaidnothing，buthefeltthattheroomwasswaying。
“Amissisasgoodasamile。It’sluckyforbothofusitwasn’t。
Lord！“Heblewnoisily。“There’snoneedforyoutogopale-greenforalittlethinglikethat。“
“IfIcanassureyou，sir——“saidMr。Ledbetter，withaneffort。
“There’sonlyonethingtodo。IfIcallinthepolice，I’mbust——
alittlegameI’vegotonisbust。Thatwon’tdo。If
