"Bother!" said Mr. Flexen. "It's very important. Possibly I shall be able
to find out from some one else."

"I hope you will," said Grey politely.

Mr. Flexen bade him good-night cordially enough, and drove back to the
Castle in a considerable perplexity. Both Colonel Grey and Lady Loudwater
were behaving in an uncommonly odd, not to say suspicious manner.

He was quite sure that both of them had lied about the dead man's
snoring. But it was plain that either had lied with a different object.
Lady Loudwater had lied to make it appear that her husband had been alive
at midnight. Colonel Grey had lied to make it appear that he was dead at
a quarter-past eleven. But Mr. Flexen was sure that Colonel Grey had
heard Lord Loudwater snore and that Lady Loudwater had not.

What did they know? What had they done? Or what had one of them done?




CHAPTER IX


When Mr. Flexen reached the Castle Wilkins took him to a bedroom in the
west wing. He found that his portmanteau had arrived, had been unpacked,
and that his dress clothes were laid out ready for him on the bed.

As he dressed he cudgelled his brains for the reason why Lady
Loudwater and Colonel Grey had lied. Then an idea came to him: were