"I had never before seen any one in Catchpole Square at that hour of the night."
"Shall we call it a kind of instinct that whispered of a foul deed done?"
"Call it what you please. You are drawing upon your fancy; I am stating facts."
"Very well; we will stick to facts. You saw the figure of a man, and your suspicions were aroused. How long a time elapsed before you had recourse to your flashlight?"
"I used it almost immediately."
"Your process of reasoning was almost as swift as your flashlight. Do you keep your device in the room in which you were standing?"
"Yes."
"How far from the window?"
"Within reach of my hand."
"Before it was ready for its work some little time must have elapsed. How is the light produced?"