past nine o'clock. You will remember that I had
wired to Mr. Lyne to meet me at the flat at eleven. Obviously there was
no reason why I should go back to the flat until a few minutes before Mr.
Lyne was due, to let him in. You asked me just now, sir," he turned to
Tarling, "whether I had my overcoat on, and I can state most emphatically
that I had not. I was going back to the flat with the intention of
collecting my overcoat, when I saw a number of people walking about the
mews behind the block. I had no desire to attract attention, as I have
told you before, so I stood waiting until these people, who were
employees of a motor-car company which had a garage behind the flat,
had dispersed.

"Now, waiting at the corner of a mews on a cold spring night is a cold
business, and seeing that it would be some time before the mews would be
clear, I went back to the main street and strolled along until I came to
a picture palace. I am partial to cinematograph displays," explained Mr.
Milburgh, "and, although I was not in the mood for entertainment, yet I
thought the pictures would afford a pleasant attraction. I forget the
name of the film----"

"It is not necessary that you should tell us for the moment," said
Tarling. "Will you please make your story as short as possible?"

Milburgh was silent for a moment.

"I am coming now to the most extraordinary fact," he said, "and I would
ask you to bear in mind every detail I give you. It is to my interest
that the perpetrator of this terrible crime should be brought to
justice----"

Tarling's impatient gesture arrested his platitudes, but Mr. Milburgh was
in no way abashed.

"When I got back to the mews I found it deserted. Standing outside the
door leading to the storerooms and cellars was a two-seater car. There
was nobody inside or in attendance and I looked at it curiously, not
realising at the moment that it was Mr. Thornton Lyne's. What did
interest me was the fact that the back gate, which I had left locked, was
open. So, too, was the door leading to what I would call the underground
room--it was little better--through which one had to pass to reach
Odette's flat by the back way.

"I opened the door of the flat," said Mr. Milburgh impressively, "and
walked in. I had extinguished the light when I went, but to my surprise
I saw through the transom of Odette's bedroom that a light was burning
within. I turned the handle, and even before I saw into the room, my
nose was ass