that upper room never entered her imagination.
A vague idea that a thief might have got into the house and she had seen
him escape by the tower window did indeed, as she says, cross her mind,
and that supposition prevented her from approaching the tower to satisfy
her curiosity. But as nothing more happened she began to think less of
the significance of what she had seen, in fact almost persuaded herself
that it had been something of an optical delusion. Presently, having had
enough of standing in the cold wind, she resumed her way, went home and
to bed, and early next morning left the town to enter a situation in
another part of the country.

"It appears that she had taken cold by her loitering and soon after
reaching her destination became so ill that she had to keep her bed, and
it was only on her recovery a few days ago that she heard what had
happened here that night. Directly she could get away she came over and
told her story to us."

"A pity she could not have come before," Morriston remarked as the chief
constable paused. "Her evidence is highly important, disposing as it does
of the mystery of the locked door."

"Yes," Major Freeman agreed, "and also of the suicide theory. The
question now is--who was the person who was seen descending from
the window?"

"Could this girl tell whether it was a man or a woman?" The question came
from Henshaw, who had hitherto kept silent.

"She thinks it was a man," Major Freeman answered, "but could not swear
to it. The fact of the object being close to the wall made it almost
impossible in the imperfect light to distinguish plainly. But I think we
may take it that it was a man. The feat could be hardly one a woman would
undertake."

"No," Gifford agreed. "And there would seem little chance of identifying
the person."

"None at all so far as the girl Haynes is concerned," Major Freeman
replied. "But we have something to go upon; a starting point for a new
line of inquiry. The person seen escaping must have lowered himself by
a rope from that top window and a considerable length would be
required. I have taken the liberty, Mr. Morriston, of setting a party
of my men to search the grounds for the rope; they will begin by
dragging the little lake."

"By all means," Morriston assented.

"Detective Sprules," the chief proceeded, "would like to make another
examination of the ironwork of the window. May he go up now?"

"Certainly," Morriston answered, and the detective l