“There’s little to tell. I was startled at Martha’s unexpected appearance, and sent her back to her room. Shortly afterward, I went back to my own room. That is all.”
“Then Martha must have come down stairs again.”
“That is quite evident,” said Minna, looking sorrowfully at the dead girl. “Oh, Mr Potter,—Rodney,—what does it all mean?”
“It will take a lot of clearing up, ma’am, before anybody can say what it means. Where were you at this time, Kelly?”
“In my own room, asleep,” answered the butler.
“You heard nothing of the goings on?”
“No; my room is up in the third story, and I sleep very soundly.”
“Humph! You do? Well, how about the doors and windows? I suppose they were locked and barred as usual?”
“Yes, they were,” asserted Kelly. “I always look after those,—especially nowadays.”
“Then there was no way for an intruder to get in this house, last night, between midnight, say, and morning?”