the distant cottage.

"Not that, sir--not altogether--but I must really ask you to clear up one
or two points now."

"For goodness' sake, what are they?"

"Well, sir, in the first place, how did you come to find the body?"

"I walked out into the garden after finishing breakfast a few
minutes ago, and noticed the rope attached to the staple, just as
you see it now."

"Did you walk straight here?"

"No. Not exactly. I was--er--curious about the face I saw, or thought I
saw, last night, and looked into the room through the same window. By
doing so I scared Mrs. Bates, who was clearing the table, and she
screamed--"

"Her would, too," put in Bates. "Her'd take 'ee for Owd Ben's ghost."

"You shut up, Bates," said the policeman. "Don't interrupt Mr. Grant."

Grant was conscious of an undercurrent of suspicion in the
constable's manner. He was wroth with the man, but recognized that he
had to deal with narrow-minded self-importance, so contrived again to
curb his temper.

"I am not acquainted with old Ben or his ghost," he said quietly. "I can