fired they immediately bolted for fear the noise would attract
attention."

"What knocks a hole in the burglar theory is the fact that Sir Horace was
fully dressed when he was shot," said the inspector. "Burglars don't
break into a house when there are lights about, especially after having
been led to believe that the house was empty."

"So you think," said Rolfe, "that the window was forced after the murder
with the object of misleading us."

"I haven't said so," replied the inspector. "All I am prepared to say is
that even that was not impossible."

"It was forced from the outside," continued Rolfe. "I've seen the marks
of a jemmy on the window-sill. If it was forced after the murder the
murderer was a cool hand."

"You can take it from me," exclaimed Inspector Chippenfield with
unexpected candour, "that he was a cool hand. We are going to have a bit
of trouble in getting to the bottom of this, Rolfe."

"If anyone can get to the bottom of it, you can," said Rolfe, who
believed with Voltaire that speech was given us in order to enable us to
conceal our thoughts.

Inspector Chippenfield was so astonished at this handsome compliment that
he began to think he had underrated Rolfe's powers of discernment. His
tone of cold official superiority immediately thawed.