he had not shrunk from the description by Inspector
Chippenfield. "He knew that I had been in trouble. In fact, sir, if you
remember, I was tried before him."

"The devil you were!" exclaimed Inspector Chippenfield, in astonishment.
"And he took you into his service after you had served your sentence. He
must have been mad. How did you manage it?"

"After I came out I found it hard to get a place," said Hill, "and when
Sir Horace's butler died I wrote to him and asked if he would give me a
chance. I had a wife and child, sir, and they had a hard struggle while I
was in prison. My wife had a shop, but she sold it to find money for my
defence. Sir Horace told me to call on him, and after thinking it over he
decided to engage me. He was a good master to me."

"And how did you repay him," exclaimed Inspector Chippenfield sternly,
"by murdering him?"

The butler was startled by the suddenness of the accusation, as Inspector
Chippenfield intended he should be.

"Me!" he exclaimed. "As sure as there is a God in Heaven I had nothing to
do with it."

"That won't go down with me, Field," said the police officer, giving the
wretched man another prolonged penetrating look.

"It's true; it's true!" he protested wildly. "I had nothing to do with
it. I couldn't do a thing like that, sir. I couldn't kill a man if I
wanted to--I haven't the nerve. But I knew I would be suspected," he
added, in a tone of self-pity.

"Oh, you did?" replied Inspector Chippenfield. "And why was that?"

"Because of my past."

"Where were you on the date of the murder?"

"In the morning I came over here to look round as usual, and I found
everything all right."

"You did that every day while Sir Horace was away?"

"Not every day, sir. Three times a week: Mondays, Wednesdays, and
Fridays."

"Did you enter the house or just look round?"

"I always came inside."

"What for?"

"To make quite sure that everything was all right."

"And was everything all right the morning of the 18th?"

"Yes, sir."

"You are quite sure of that? You looked round carefully?"

"Well, sir, I just gave a glance round, for of course I didn't expect
anything would be wrong."

Inspector Chippenfield fixed a steady glance on the butler to ascertain
if he was conscious of the trap he had avoided.

"Did you look in this room?"

"Yes, sir. I made a point of looking in all the rooms."

"You are sure that Sir Horace's dead body was not lying here?" Inspector
Ch