That was natural. Something told
me that Corbario had tried to kill you, and I suspected him, but it is
only lately that I have got all the evidence we need. There is not a
link lacking. Well, when I came to Rome that time, it chanced that I met
Corbario at the station. He had come by the same train, and was looking
dreadfully ill. That increased my suspicion, for I knew that his anxiety
must be frightful, since you might have seen him when he struck you, and
might recognise him, and accuse him. Yet he could not possibly avoid
meeting you. Imagine what that man must have felt. He tried to smile
when he saw me, and said he wished he had one of those sleeping tablets
of mine. You understand. He thought I had already missed the one he had
taken, though I had not, and that he had better disarm any possible
suspicion by speaking of the poison carelessly. Then his face turned
almost yellow, and he nearly fainted. He said it was the heat, and I
helped him to his carriage. He looked like a man terrified out of his
senses, and I remembered the fact afterwards, when I found that one
tablet had been stolen; but at the time I attributed it all to his fear
of facing you. Now we know the truth. He tried to murder you, and on the
same day he poisoned your mother."
Kalmon sat quite still when he had finished, and for a long time
Marcello did not move, and made no sound. At last he spoke in a dull
voice.
"I want to kill him myself.
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