Dentham shook his head.
"No, I neither saw nor heard anything," he replied quickly, "but it was a wet night when he came, and after I found the walking-stick I searched for his footmarks. I traced them more or less clearly from the garden-door up to the window of the room in which I heard the voices. He must have left the same way if he left at all; but all the footmarks pointed towards the house, and none away from it, so I'm certain he did not go away."
"You're quite a detective," said Teddy, with a smile, "and, certainly, your explanation is a very ingenious one, so let us assume, for the sake of argument, that Mr. Lancaster did not leave the house—so far so good. Now the next question is, did he leave the room?"
"No," asserted Dentham again.
"Why not?" asked Olive.
"Because I was lying awake listening to the voices, and although I could not make out what they were saying, yet if either my master or Mr. Lancaster had left the room, I should easily have heard them doing so."
Teddy Rudall looked puzzled.
"Well, if Lancaster did not leave the house nor the room, he must be concealed in it—or else have vanished into thin air, which is, of course, impossible."
"I'm not so certain about that," said Olive, looking up, "remember what we were talking about."
Teddy shrugged his shoulders contemptuously.