"Allow me to remind you, sir," said Lord Arondelle, "that this interview testified to by the last witness, was said to have taken place between ten and twelve at night, and that there is a train for London which stops at Lone at a quarter past twelve. Would it not be well to make inquiries at the station as to what passengers, if any, got on at Lone?"
"A good idea. Thanks, my lord. We will summon the agent who happened to be on duty at that hour," said the coroner.
And a messenger was immediately dispatched to Lone to bring the railway official in question.
In the interim, several of the household servants were examined, but without bringing any new facts to light.
After an absence of two hours, the messenger returned accompanied by Donald McNeil, the ticket-agent who had been in the office for the midnight train of the preceding day.
He was a man of middle age and medium size, with a fair complexion, sandy hair and open, honest countenance. He was clothed in a suit of black and white-checked cloth.
He was duly sworn and examined. He gave his name as Donald McNeil, his age forty years, and his home in the hamlet of Lone.
"You are a ticket-agent at the Railway Station at Lone?" inquired the coroner's clerk.
"I am, sir."
"You were on duty at that station last night, between twelve midnight and one, morning?"