Burt nodded, and poured some more Hollands from the square bottle.
"Having seen," Girdlestone continued, "that this sad necessity might arise, I had made every arrangement some time before. This building is, as you may have observed in your drive, situated in a lonely and secluded part of the country. It is walled round too in such a manner that any one residing here is practically a prisoner. I removed the lady so suddenly that no one can possibly know where she has gone to, and I have spread such reports as to her condition that no one down here would be surprised to hear of her decease."
"But there is bound to be an inquiry. How about a medical certificate?" asked Ezra.
"I shall insist upon a coroner's inquest," his father answered.
"An inquest! Are you mad?"
"When you have heard me I think that you will come to just the opposite conclusion. I think that I have hit upon a scheme which is really neat—neat in its simplicity." He rubbed his hands together, and showed his long yellow fangs in his enjoyment of his own astuteness.
Burt and Ezra leaned forward to listen, while the old man sank his voice to a whisper.
"They think that she is insane," he said.
"Yes."
"There's a small door in the boundary wall which leads out to the railway line."