“Do I understand, then,” he said carefully, “that you are offering to murder anyone whom I recommend?” “Tee-hee,” cackled Mr Todhunter. “Well, if you put it so bluntly, yes.” “It’s best, I think, to have these things quite plain.” “Oh, undoubtedly, undoubtedly.” Furze ate a few more mouthfuls with a thoughtful air. Then he glanced round the club dining room. The walls were still there, the elderly waiters, the baron of beef on the cold table, everything seemed quite normal except his guest. “Then let me sum up what you’ve told me. You’re suffering from an incurable disease. You’ve only got a few more months to live. But you feel quite fit. You want to use the situation to do some good in the world, of a kind that a man not in your position could hardly do. And you’ve come to the conclusion that a judicious murder would best meet the case. Is that correct?” “Well, yes. But as I told you, the idea was not mine; I had a few men to dinner a few weeks ago and put the case to them, of course in a hypothetical way.
