"I understand that you found Layton sneaking about the house?"
"Yes. I first strolled out with Mr. Delamere. Then I left him, and went back to see where the others had got to, and saw Layton creeping round the side of the house towards the open drawing-room windows. He heard my footsteps on the path, and bolted."
"To the river?"
"Yes. I shouted for Mr. Copplestone, but there was no answer—so I followed him."
"You are quite certain it was Layton?"
"Perfectly. I saw his face in the light of the windows, and he was wearing the peculiar kind of slouch hat he had carried when he came into the room."
"Apparently no one saw him in the garden except yourself."
"Unfortunately not. I met the Frenchman, Monsieur Dupont, a little way from the river—but he had not seen him."
"It was a pity you did not manage to catch him," the inspector remarked.
"Confound it, yes! But it was easy to get away in such a garden as this. There wasn't a chance of finding him."