Morton came towards them, followed by the young man who was interested in moths. Mr. Johnson welcomed him pleasantly, but with no indication of intimacy.
“Glad to see you, Fielding,” he said. “I sent word down that those trout flies had arrived. I’ll show them to you directly. That will do, Morton.”
The butler departed. Mr. Johnson turned to the Chief Constable.
“This is Mr. Fielding,” he announced. “He is a member of the firm of Watts and Fielding, private enquiry agents. He has been staying in the neighbourhood for the last month, making a few investigations for me.”
The relations between the accredited representatives of the law and a private enquiry agent were scarcely likely to be cordial. Major Holmes, however, nodded slightly.
“To some extent, as I told you, I have been anticipating last night’s visit,” Mr. Johnson continued. “Mr. Fielding, therefore, has spent a considerable portion of his time after midnight watching the egress from the Hall. He will tell you that this morning a man slipped out of one of the side entrances, a door, in fact, which opened from the small library into the garden, at ten minutes past three, and that he followed him to this house.”
“Is that a fact?” the Chief Constable asked gravely.
“That is a fact,” Fielding replied. “I am prepared to swear to it.”
“Did you recognise the man?” Major Holmes enquired.
The other shook his head.