tely after
the servants left the room someone had stabbed the deceased to the
heart, before she had time to rise or even alter her position. But
Susan Grant asserts that no one was in the room. There was only one
door, out of which she departed. The bedroom of Miss Loach on the
basement floor had a door which opened into the passage, as did the
sitting-room door. No one could have entered until the servant
departed. The passage was lighted with electricity, but she did not
observe anyone about, nor did she hear a sound. She showed out Mr.
Clancy and then returned to the kitchen. Certainly the assassin may
have been concealed in the bedroom and have stolen into the
sitting-room when Susan Grant was showing out Mr. Clancy. Perhaps then
he killed the deceased suddenly, as we said before. He could have then
come up the stairs and have escaped while the servants were at supper.
It might have been the murderer who opened the door, and was overheard
by Thomas.

"The policeman was on duty about ten, as he was seen by Susan Grant
when she showed Mr. Clancy to the door. The policeman also asserted
that he was again on the spot--i.e., in the roadway opposite the
cottage--at eleven. At these times the assassin could not have escaped
without being seen. There is no exit at the back, as a high wall
running round an unfinished house belonging to the eccentric Lord
Caranby blocks the way. Therefore the assassin must have ventured into
the roadway. He could then have walked up the lane into the main
streets of Rexton, or have taken a path opposite to the gate of Rose
Cottage, which leads to the railway station. Probably, after executing
the crime, he took this latter way. The path runs between quickset
hedges, rather high, for a long distance, past houses, and ends within
fifty yards of the railway station. The criminal could take the first
train and get to town, there to lose himself in the wilderness of
London.

"So far so good. But the strangest thing about this most mysterious
affair is that the bell in the sitting-room rang two minutes before
Susan Grant entered the room to find her mistress dead. This was some
time after the closing of the door overheard by Thomas; therefore the
assassin could not have escaped that way. Moreover, by this time the
policeman was standing blocking the pathway to the station. Again, the
alarm was given immediately by the other servants, who rushed to the
sitting-room on hearing Sus