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