"I admire you for sticking up for him," said Kind, sarcastically, "especially as he was so hard on you, Mr. Herries. All the same, if it was not a case of blackmail, why didn't Sir Simon see this man at his own house? Why should he come to a lonely little inn with a large sum of money? Why should he be so anxious to see this stranger, that having retired he placed a red handkerchief in the window, and put a candle behind it by way of a signal? Answer me these questions."
"It _does_ seem strange," muttered Browne, thoughtfully.
"So strange that there can only be one explanation," retorted the Cheap-jack decisively. "This man, whomsoever he was, could not get to the inn at the appointed time, which was eight o'clock. He came very late, before twelve in fact----"
"Why not after twelve?" asked Herries.
"Because, as Dr. Browne here will tell you, the millionaire was murdered somewhere about midnight."
"I cannot be quite sure," put in Browne hastily. "I made only a superficial examination of the body."
"Well, we'll say midnight, as you cannot be very far out of your reckoning."
"I certainly think that either at midnight, or shortly afterwards, Sir Simon was killed."
"Then that fixes the time. The stranger must have arrived before midnight, as the pair might have had a talk before the murder."
"No," said Browne, quickly, "Sir Simon was, I think, from the orderly way in which the bedclothes were placed, murdered in his sleep."