lled out. "Keep all these people away! Close
the door and let no one enter on any excuse. Stay there yourself and see
that we are not interrupted. Come this way now," he went on, addressing
the policemen and the two favoured spectators.

"You've found him, then, sir?" asked the police-sergeant in a thick
whisper, as Greyle led his party across the grass to the foot of the
Keep. "I suppose it's all up with the poor gentleman; of course? The
doctor, he wasn't in, but they'll send him up as soon--"

"Mr. Bassett Oliver is dead," interrupted Greyle, almost harshly. "No
doctors can do any good. Now, look here," he continued, pulling them to a
sudden halt, "I want all of you to take particular notice of this old
tower--the Keep. I believe you have not been in here before, Mr.
Copplestone--just pay particular attention to this place. Here you see is
the Keep, standing in the middle of what I suppose was the courtyard of
the old castle. It's a square tower, with a stair-turret at one angle.
The stair in that turret is in a very good state of preservation--in
fact, it is quite easy to climb to the top, and from the top there's a
fine view of land and sea: the Keep itself is nearly a hundred feet in
height. Now the inside of the Keep is completely gutted, as you'll
presently see--there isn't a floor left of the five or six which were
once there. And I'm sorry to say there's very little protection when
one's at the top--merely a narrow ledge with a very low parapet, which in
places is badly broken. Consequently, any one who climbs to the top must
be very careful, or there's the danger of slipping off that ledge and
falling to the bottom. Now in my opinion that's precisely what happened
on Sunday afternoon. Oliver evidently got in here, climbed the stairs in
the turret to enjoy the view and fell from the parapet. And why his body
hasn't been found before I'll now show you."

He led the way to the extreme foot of the Keep, and to a very low-arched
door, at which stood a couple of the estate labourers, one of whom
carried a lighted lantern. To this man the Squire made a sign.

"Show the way," he said, in a low voice.

The man turned and descended several steps of worn and moss-covered stone
which led through the archway into a dark, cellar-like place smelling
strongly of damp and age. Greyle drew the attention of his companions to
a heap of earth and rubbish at the entrance.

"We had to clear all that out before we could get in