"I locked up the room in which the dead body is, and the library through
which there is also access to it, leaving everything just as it was when
the body was found. I do not think that any traces which the criminal has
left, if, that is, he has left any, can have been obliterated."

He spoke with the quiet pride of a man who has done the right thing in
an emergency.

"That's good," said Mr. Flexen, in a tone of warm approval. "It
isn't often that we get a clear start like that. We'll examine these
rooms at once."

Mr. Manley went to the door of the smoking-room and was about to unlock
it, when Dr. Thornhill, a big, bluff man of fifty-five, bustled in. Mr.
Manley introduced him to Mr. Flexen; then he unlocked the door and
opened it.

The doctor was leading the way into the smoking-room when Mr. Flexen
stepped smartly in front of him and said: "Please stay outside all of
you. I'll make the examination myself first."

He spoke quietly, but in the tone of a man used to command.

"But, for anything we know, his lordship may still be alive," said Dr.
Thornhill in a somewhat blustering tone, and pushing forward. "As his
medical adviser, it's my duty to make sure at once."

"I'll tell you whether Lord Loudwater is alive or not. Don't let any one
cross the threshold, Perkins," said Mr. Flexen, with quiet decision.