“Oh, yes. Quite easily.”

“Was Durnford a taller man than yourself?”

“Yes, sir. At least a head taller.”

“Does the face of that clock open easily?”

“Quite easily. I open it every few days to wind it.”

“Did that clock keep good time after that evening?”

“I don’t remember, sir,” answered the witness, after a moment of earnest thought.

“No matter. Jane Flinders swears it was a quarter-past ten by her watch, when she heard Durnford come in. You swear it was five-and-twenty minutes to ten. How do you reconcile the difference?”

“I don’t know. She must be mistaken.”

“But so may you be.” The witness was silent.