Then the inquest was over, and nothing remained but to bury Lady Clarice Alden. Dr. Mayne, however, had not come to the end of his resources yet.
“The local police have failed,” he said to Sir Ronald; “we will send to Scotland Yard at once.”
And Sir Ronald bade him do whatever in the interests of justice he considered best.
In answer to his application came Sergeant Hewson, who was generally considered the shrewdest and cleverest man in England.
“If Sergeant Hewson gives a thing up, no one else can succeed,” was a remark of general use in the profession. He seemed to have an instinctive method of finding out that which completely baffled others.
“The mystery will soon be solved now,” said Dr. Mayne; “Sergeant Hewson will not be long in suspense.”
The sergeant made his home at Aldenmere; he wished to be always on the spot.
“The murder must have been done either by some one in the house or some one out of it,” he said; “let us try the inside first.”
So he watched and waited; he talked to the servants, who considered him “a most affable gent;” he listened to them; he examined everything belonging to them—in vain.
Lady Clarice Alden had been beloved and admired by her servants.