A. Judging roughly, I should say about fifteen feet.
Q. About the distance, that is to say, between the tree against which you had leaned your gun and the spot where the body was found?
A. Yes.
Q. Then the inference is that the gun had suddenly been seized by some one from its position, fired, and replaced where it was?
A. I suppose so.
Q. You reached the house, you say, about 3.15, and left it again, on your way to the copse, just as it struck four. Would you mind telling us how you disposed of the interval?
A. (With some temper): I was in my own den all the time. What on earth has that to do with the matter?
Q. Everything, sir; touching on the critical movements of witnesses in a case of this sort matters. I wish to ask you, for instance, if, during that interval from 3.15 to 4 o’clock, you heard any sound, any report, like that of a gun being discharged?
A. If I had, I should probably have paid no attention to it. The sound of a gun is nothing very uncommon with us.
Q. I ask you if you were aware of any such sound?