"Mrs. Heredith is dead," Musard gravely informed them. "She died while you have been searching for the miscreant who fired the shot we heard at the dinner table. Gentlemen, he must be found. It seems hardly possible that he has succeeded in getting clear away in so short a time."
"We have searched the place from top to bottom," remarked one of the young men.
"It is a strange, rambling old place, and difficult to explore unless you know it thoroughly," said Musard.
"We have done the best we could."
"I do not doubt it, but there are many old nooks and corners in which a man might hide."
"His first thought, after such a dreadful crime, would be to get away as quickly as possible," said Major Gardner.
"But how did he escape? Certainly not by the staircase, because we rushed out from the dining-room directly we heard the shot, and we should have caught him on his way down."
"Is there not a window in the bedroom? Could he not have escaped that way?"
"The window is nearly twenty feet from the ground."
"An athletic man might jump that distance," remarked Major Gardner thoughtfully.