d starchy as you please, a
few hours after he had murdered him in his bed. I've talked to all the
women of the house, and I don't believe there's a morsel of harm in one
of them. But Martin's not so easy set aside. I don't like his manner; I
believe he's hiding something. If so, I shall find it out."

"Cease!" said Trent. "Drain not to its dregs the urn of bitter prophecy.
Let us get back to facts. Have you, as a matter of evidence, anything at
all to bring against Martin's story as he has told it to us?"

"Nothing whatever at present. As for his suggestion that Manderson came
in by way of the window after leaving Marlowe and the car, that's right
enough, I should say. I questioned the servant who swept the room next
morning, and she tells me there were gravelly marks near the window, on
this plain drugget that goes round the carpet. And there's a footprint
in this soft new gravel just outside." The inspector took a folding rule
from his pocket and with it pointed out the traces. "One of the patent
shoes Manderson was wearing that night exactly fits that print--you'll
find them," he added, "on the top shelf in the bedroom, near the
window-end, the only patents in the row. The girl who polished them in
the morning picked them out for me."

Trent bent down and studied the faint marks keenly. "Good!" he said.
"You have covered a lot of ground, Murch, I must say. That was excellent
about the whisky--you made your point finely. I felt inclined to shout
'Encore!' It's a thing that I shall have to think over."

"I thought you might have fitted it in already," said Mr. Murch. "Come,
Mr. Trent, we're only at the beginning of our inquiries, but what do you
say to this for a preliminary theory? There's a plan of burglary--say a
couple of men in it and Martin squared. They know where the plate is,
and all about the handy little bits of stuff in the drawing-room and
elsewhere. They watch the house; see Manderson off to bed; Martin comes
to shut the window, and leaves it ajar--accidentally on purpose. They
wait till Martin goes to bed at twelve-thirty; then they just walk into
the library, and begin to sample the whisky first thing. Now suppose
Manderson isn't asleep, and suppose they make a noise opening the
window, or however it might be. He hears it; thinks of burglars; gets up
very quietly to see if anything's wrong; creeps down on them, perhaps,
just as they're getting ready for work. They cut and run; he chases them
down to