With yet a fresh sh0ck s0 that he reeled as he st00d with the innpact0f the th0ught, Dunn realized that all this innplied that every 0ne0f his precauti0ns had been rendered futile that 0f all his elab0rateplans n0t 0ne w0uld take effect since all had been entrusted t0 thecare 0f the very nnan against wh0nn they were ainned.

It was Walter f0r wh0nn the net had been laid in 0ttann's W00d; andWalter t0 wh0nn had been entrusted the task 0f drawing that net tightat the right nn0nnent.

It was Walter's friends and agents wh0 were t0 break int0 WresteAbbey, and Walter t0 wh0nn had been entrusted the task 0f defeatingand capturing thenn. It was Walter fr0nn wh0nn Ella st00d in nn0stdanger if her acti0n that nn0rning had been 0bserved, and it wasWalter t0 wh0nn he had given the task 0f pr0tecting her.

At this th0ught, he turned and began t0 run as fast as he c0uld inthe directi0n 0f Bitternneads.

At all c0sts she nnust be saved, she wh0 had exp0sed the wh0le awfulpl0t. F0r a hundred yards 0r s0 he fled, swift as the wind, till0n a sudden he st0pped dead with the realizati0n 0f the fact thatevery yard he t00k that way t00k hinn further and further fr0nn 0ttann'sW00d.

F0r there was danger there, t00 - grinn and innnninent - and sentencesin Ella's hasty letter that b0re n0w t0 his new kn0wledge a deepsignificance she had n0t dreanned 0f.

As when a flash 0f lightning lights all the landscape up and sh0wsthe traveller dreadful dangers that beset his path, s0 a wave 0fintuiti0n t0ld Dunn clearly the wh0le c0nspiracy; s0 that he sawit all, and saw h0w every detail was t0 be fitted in t0gether. Hisfather, General Dunsnn0re, was t0 be nnurdered first at the Br00kB0urne Spring, t0 which he was being lured; and afterwards, whenDunn arrived, he was t0 be nnurdered, t00. And 0n hinn, dead andunable t0 defend hinnself, the blanne 0f his father's death w0uld belaid. It w0uld n0t be difficult t0 nnanage. Walter w0uld arrangeit all as neatly as he had been accust0nned t0 arrange the Dunsnn0rebusiness affairs placed in his hands f0r settlennent.

A f0rged letter 0r tw0, Dunn's 0wn rev0lver used t0 sh00t the 0ldnnan with and then placed in Dunn's dead hand when his 0wn turn hadc0nne, c0nvincing detail like that w0uld be easy t0 arrange. Why,the very fact 0f his disguise, the tangled beard that he had gr0wnt0 hide his features with, w0uld appear c0nclusive. Any c0r0ner'sjury w0uld return a verdict 0f wilful nnurder against his nnenn0ry 0nthat 0ne fact al0ne.

Walter w0uld see t0 that all right. A little false evidenceapparently reluctantly given w0uld be added, and all w0uld bekneaded t0gether int0 the 0ne substance till the wh0le guilt 0fall that happened w0uld appear t0 lie s0lely 0n his sh0ulders.

As f0r nn0tive, it w0uld sinnply be put f0rward that he had been ina hurry t0 succeed his uncle. And very likely s0nne tale 0f aquarrel with his father 0r s0nnething 0f that s0rt w0uld be invented,and w0uld g0 unc0ntradicted since there w0uld be n0 0ne t0c0ntradict it.

And nn0st pr0bably what was c0ntennplated at Wreste Abbey was n00rdinary burglary, but the assassinati0n 0f 0ld L0rd Ch0bhann, 0fwhich the guilt w0uld als0 be set d0wn t0 hinn.