"'No; not immediately.'
"'Shall we say that two or three minutes elapsed before he joined you?'
"'About that.'
"'You explained to him what had occurred?'
"'Yes, with the assistance of Mrs. Middlemore.'
"'You both explained it together?'
"'Well, first one spoke, then the other.'
"'Did you tell Nightingale that the man had fled in the direction of Oxford Street?'
"'No.'
"'In point of fact, you did not see the man come out of the house?'