was winter, and, consequently, the house was nearly deserted excepting
by its ordinary inmates; it was, therefore, highly acceptable,
particularly as my uncle was aware that his visiter's tastes accorded
exactly with his own.

Both parties seemed determined to avail themselves of their mutual
suitability during the brief stay which Mr. Tisdall had promised; the
consequence was, that they shut themselves up in Sir Arthur's private
room for nearly all the day and the greater part of the night, during
the space of almost a week, at the end of which the servant having one
morning, as usual, knocked at Mr. Tisdall's bed-room door repeatedly,
received no answer, and, upon attempting to enter, found that it was
locked. This appeared suspicious, and the inmates of the house having
been alarmed, the door was forced open, and, on proceeding to the bed,
they found the body of its occupant perfectly lifeless, and hanging
halfway out, the head downwards, and near the floor. One deep wound
had been inflicted upon the temple, apparently with some blunt
instrument, which had penetrated the brain, and another blow, less
effective--probably the first aimed--had grazed his head, removing
some of the scalp. The door had been double locked upon the _inside_,
in evidence of which the key still lay where it had been placed in the
lock. The window, though not secured on the interior, was closed; a
circumstance not a little puzzling, as it afforded the only other
mode of escape from the room. It looked out, too, upon a kind of
court-yard, round which the old buildings stood, formerly accessible
by a narrow doorway and passage lying in the oldest side of the
quadrangle, but which had since been built up, so as to preclude all
ingress or egress; the room was also upon the second story, and the
height of the window considerable; in addition to all which the stone
window-sill was much too narrow to allow of any one's standing upon it