The answer was given almost with bravado, and the silence among the various auditors became intense.
"You admit, then, that you were in the widow's house the morning she was murdered, and that you had an interview with her a few minutes before the fatal blow was struck?"
"I do."
There was doggedness in the tone, and doggedness in the look that accompanied it. The coroner moved a little forward in his chair and uttered his next question with deep gravity.
"Did you approach the widow's house by the road and enter into it by means of the front door overlooking the lane?"
"I did."
"And did you meet no one in the lane, or see no one at the windows of any of the houses as you came by?"
"No, sir."
"How long did you stay in this house, and what was the result of the interview which you had with Mrs. Clemmens?"
"I stayed, perhaps, ten minutes, and I learned nothing from Mrs. Clemmens, save that she was well and hearty, and likely to live out her threescore years and ten for all hint that her conversation or appearance gave me."