For a moment Michael did not recognise the name ; then there suddenly came to him a recollection of one snowy night when he , a rowdy medical student new to London , after joining one of those idiotic ragging battles in which medical students seem to take particular pleasure , had been knocked down and left half drunk and quite unconscious in a doorway in North London .sx Here he had been found by a belated Jewish citizen , who had not only taken him in , warmed and fed him and got a doctor to attend to his injuries , but had actually kept and nursed him in his house for three or four days while the threatened attack of pneumonia was being warded off .sx It was very probable that Mr. Morris Goldstein had saved his life on that occasion ; at least , he had certainly done enough for him to have a considerable claim on Michael's services at the present moment , particularly if , as his solicitor hinted , he was friendless , in very low financial water , and accused on fairly heavy evidence of a crime of which he was innocent .sx The fact that he had got hold of a very unpleasing lawyer , who seemed by no means equally convinced of his innocence , Michael felt , could not be allowed to outweigh the obligation ; and , accordingly , in a very few minutes he was in a taxi making for Brixton gaol , accompanied by the solicitor to serve as an introduction .sx " There'll have to be a warder there while you talk to him , " the latter said .sx " But they don't listen much .sx " Michael wished that he himself was rather more experienced in the ways of prisons .sx It was a very miserable frightened little Jew whom he found at length when he had passed through all the formalities , and it was some time before he could cut short the Jew's protestations of gratitude at his prompt arrival and bring him to the point .sx He was , he learned , the only port in a storm , the only possible saviour of the wretched Mr. Goldstein , who was alone and friendless in the world , and victim of a cruel and heartless conspiracy which would shortly bring him to the gallows as well as to financial ruin .sx Making every allowance for his very alarming position , Michael could scarcely resist a temptation to pick him up and shake some courage into his trembling body ; but he contented himself with repeated adjurations to him to produce more details , as a result of which he acquired by degrees the story which the reader has already heard .sx " Um-m-m .sx " He thought it over for a minute or two .sx " Then what they've got against you is this .sx You were in financial difficulties you couldn't have met your bills at quarter day .sx In addition , you were afraid of this woman Schensinger's demands .sx " Goldstein nodded miserably as each point was made .sx " You'd ordered in a big barrel of kerosene , though there was some in the house already .sx " " I didn't know there was , " Goldstein interrupted .sx " I order stores when I'm asked to .sx I don't go down and count .sx " " You cleared the house , or thought you'd cleared it , for the week-end ; and if Mrs. Hollis hadn't felt ill , there would have been nobody there .sx Then you went away to Southend , but you're supposed to have been seen lurking in the neighbourhood a little before the fire must have broken out , and at a time when nobody can witness to your having been in Southend .sx .. Well , it's a lot , no doubt ; but I don't see that it's conclusive .sx Nobody can prove that you did it , after all .sx My advice to you , Mr. Goldstein , is to stick to your story ; and perhaps someone will turn up who remembers seeing you at that Southend cinema .sx " " Ah , but no one can !sx " Goldstein interrupted despairingly .sx " Why , what do you mean ?sx " .sx " I wasn't there , Dr. Prendergast , " Goldstein said , speaking in the lowest possible whisper .sx " I have been a terrible fool .sx I did not know , when they asked me first , that I was to be charged .sx And afterwards , I was so frightened , I did not know what to do .sx But I will tell you now .sx I was not in Southend ; I was in London .sx It was I that Hollis saw that night in the Camden Road .sx " " But you denied " .sx " I did .sx But it was a lie .sx Listen to me one moment , Dr. Prendergast , and I will tell you how it came about .sx That afternoon , I was in Southend , and I received a telegram from this woman , Miriam Schensinger , saying I must come and see her at once , for something very serious had happened , and I must meet her at her lodging in Welbeck Avenue at 9.30 without fail .sx I know Miriam Schensinger , doctor , and she will not spend a penny unless she has to ; so when she sends a telegram , it is certain the matter is serious .sx I dared not stay away ; I must find out what has happened .sx Maybe her husband has found out , and if so he will kill me , I think .sx So I went up quickly to London and to her lodgings .sx But all was dark , there was no answer at all .sx I dared not be seen hanging about too long I waited as much as was safe .sx .. then I went back , and to Southend .sx It must have been then that Hollis saw me .sx " " And you kept all this back ?sx And you lied about it ?sx " Even Michael's inexperience could see that the position was not improved by this recital .sx " I did .sx But when they asked me , I thought only that I must not let anyone know what had happened between me and Miriam Schensinger .sx Now , of course , they have found it all out and I am to hang .sx But , doctor , I swear I did not do it I swear I swear that it's all the truth I have told you now !sx " .sx " Where's the telegram ?sx " Michael asked .sx Useless to consider whether or not he believed Goldstein until he had all the facts .sx But the latter held up his hands in despair .sx " I burned it .sx I never keep correspondence of such a kind when I have read what is in it .sx But I can remember it it is all written on my brain !sx It said , ' Goldstein , 22 Avenue Villas , Southend :sx Come Welbeck nine-thirty to-night without fail :sx disaster threatens :sx Miriam .sx ' She had even put two words over the shilling , so I knew it must be serious , " Goldstein sighed .sx " No address ?sx " .sx " No .sx But it was handed in at the Post Office in High Holborn , where she works .sx I noticed she was at least not injured , " said Goldstein .sx He peered anxiously in Michael's face .sx " Do you no , you do not believe me !sx But I swear to you I swear again , this is all the truth !sx I did not fire the house ; I did not go to it even .sx But if you do not believe me , what chance is there that the man called Wilson , the Scotland Yard man , will ?sx " He seemed about to burst into tears .sx " Wilson !sx " Michael caught at the straw .sx " But I know him !sx I once helped him in one of his cases , and I can assure you that the last thing he wants to do is to convict innocent people .sx Look here , if that's really all the truth you've told me , I think the best thing you can do is to tell it to Wilson himself or I will , if you like .sx You can be sure he'll make the best of it for you .sx That's the best thing you can do .sx " Goldstein was obviously very frightened , and unwilling to take the plunge , but at last he consented to let Wilson be informed , only adding a string of further asseverations that he had now told every word of the truth , and was completely innocent of the crime .sx " By the way , " Michael recollected as he was about to go , " where was Mrs. Schensinger that night , when you didn't find her ?sx " .sx " I don't know , " the little Jew moaned .sx " I tried to see her , but she was not in .sx And I dared not go too openly , lest everyone find out .sx I was going again , but I was arrested .sx " Still , she must have been somewhere , Michael reflected ; and surely she must have some explanation of having broken an appointment made with such urgency .sx Perhaps she might have some light to throw on the whole problem .sx It seemed worth trying , anyway ; and , having obtained the lady's address from Goldstein , he decided , before going to Wilson , to call on her and see what explanation she had to offer .sx But he was grievously disappointed .sx He did not like Mrs. Schensinger in the first place a red-haired , blowsy Jewess of loud muscular presence and obviously uncertain temper .sx She could have eaten Morris Goldstein in two mouthfuls , and Michael found pause to wonder at the little man's taste .sx Nor did he feel that he knew in the least how to handle her ; she treated him as an open enemy from the moment he appeared , and every minute he expected to be hit on the head with a rolling-pin or some such object .sx But far more serious than her truculent manner was the fact that , when she did at last consent to discuss the subject of his visit , she utterly denied knowledge of the telegram .sx She had neither seen nor heard anything of Morris Goldstein for more than a week , nor did she want to , she said .sx He was a mean-spirited cur , and a skinflint at that ; and she made it quite plain that her .sx dislike of Goldstein extended to all Goldstein's acquaintances .sx She had sent no telegram and nothing would have induced her to ; and to this she stuck till Michael was fain to take his leave , observing as he left her that another caller , a little man going slightly bald , whose face seemed to him vaguely familiar , was standing on the doorstep .sx He did not feel very hopeful as he went in search of Wilson .sx All he had done so far , it seemed , was to destroy Goldstein's last defence ; and , indeed , the only thing that held him on his course , and gave him any doubt of the little man's guilt , was that he could not conceive how even the stupidest criminal should have thought it any use applying to a Harley Street physician , no matter how much indebted to him , to aid in concealing a murder .sx Except for that , he would have had no doubt that Goldstein was guilty , especially after the collapse of the telegram defence , and he said as much to Wilson when at length he ran him to earth in his office at Scotland Yard .sx " Well , we can check that bit , at all events , " Wilson said ; and ringing the bell on his table gave a few short orders to the man who answered it .sx " Would you like to wait , Michael , and see if your incredibly foolish benefactor has treated you to some more romance ?sx Only keep quiet , there's a good fellow ; I want to think .sx " Michael obediently sat quiet while Wilson , his eyes half closed , and leaning back in his chair with the tips of his fingers pressed together , gave an imitation of a man asleep rather than engaged in thought .sx He looked up instantly , however , when his emissary returned at the end of an hour and laid a paper on the desk .sx " Well , that's one thing cleared up , " he said , " at any rate .sx The telegram was sent , Michael .sx From High Holborn , at 3.45. " .sx " But not by Mrs. Schensinger , presumably .sx Who by , then ?sx " .sx " By M. Smith , " said Wilson , " which doesn't help us much .sx Except that the Post Office declare M. Smith to be a woman .sx I think it's about time I took a hand in this game .sx " He rose to his feel rapidly and stuffed some papers into his pockets .sx " Do you think Goldstein's guilty ?sx " Michael asked .sx " No , I don't .sx But I think someone's very anxious I should think so .sx " " But who ?sx " .sx " The guilty person , my boy .sx " " But who is he ?sx or she ?sx " .sx