"Humph!" said Dr. Arne thoughtfully; "then it would seem that he was struck down, just as he was going up to town. Could Mr. Alpenny have caught a train so late?"
"Yes, sir, if he left The Camp at nine o'clock. There was a train at half-past ten to Brighton; and he could have caught a late one on the main line, or he could have stopped at Brighton all night. He sometimes did."
"It is nearly three miles to our local station," said Dr. Arne. "Could an old man like Mr. Alpenny walk that distance?"
"He often did," declared Durban emphatically; "he had a wonderful constitution, had the master."
"Marvellous vitality," cried Dr. Herman from his seat, and was rebuked by his enemy the Coroner.
Arne asked a few more questions, and then addressed the jury. He pointed out that, on the evidence before them, they could not arrive at any conclusion as to who was the actual murderer.
"The man who murdered Colonel Hall," cried Mrs. Snow.
"Quite so," said the Coroner smoothly; "but that man escaped, and was never discovered. If it is the same man--and certainly, Mrs. Snow, it seems as though your surmise is right--he may escape again. Mr. Alpenny apparently was about to start on his journey, after leaving the note for Miss Hedge, and probably was turning over some necessary papers, when he was struck down. Regarding the locked door, I can offer no explanation: nor have the police been able to find this masked man, who assuredly must be the assassin. The case is full of mystery, and I do not see what can be done, save that the jury should return an open verdict."
He made a few more observations, but what he said was not very much to the point. The jury--what else could be done?--returned a verdict of murder against a person or persons unknown, with an observation to the effect that the police should hunt down the man with the black patch. This last remark was rather irregular; but, to say the truth, everyone was so puzzled over the aspect of the case that no one had any very clear idea of what to say or do. However, the verdict--such as it was--resolved itself into the terms above stated, and the jury betook themselves severally to their homes, there to puzzle over the matter. Beatrice went back to The Camp with Durban, and both felt glad that the corpse was still left in an outhouse of the hotel. Neither wished that gruesome relic of mortality to remain in The Camp.
"That is all right, missy," said Durban, when the two were walking along the lane towards The Camp; "master will be buried to-morrow, and we won't think of him any more."