The chances are, that the whole of this case, serious as it seems now,
will tumble to pieces, if we can only break through Rachel's inveterate
reserve, and prevail upon her to speak out."
"That is a very comforting opinion for _me_," I said. "I own I should like
to know."
"You would like to know how I can justify it," inter-posed Mr. Bruff. "I
can tell you in two minutes. Understand, in the first place, that I
look at this matter from a lawyer's point of view. It's a question of
evidence, with me. Very well. The evidence breaks down, at the outset,
on one important point."
"On what point?"
"You shall hear. I admit that the mark of the name proves the nightgown
to be yours. I admit that the mark of the paint proves the nightgown
to have made the smear on Rachel's door. But what evidence is there to
prove that you are the person who wore it, on the night when the Diamond
was lost?"
The objection struck me, all the more forcibly that it reflected an
objection which I had felt myself.
"As to this," pursued the lawyer taking up Rosanna Spearman's
confession, "I can understand that the letter is a distressing one to
YOU. I can understand that you may hesitate to analyse it from a purely
impartial point of view.
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