“I noticed that it was dark as I ran up the steps, but on the off chance that it might have been the gardener that I had heard, I rang the bell half mechanically and tried the door, as I wanted to explain to him about Mr. Conroy’s visit in the morning. The door was locked.”
“You had the key on the ring, hadn’t you?”
“Yes; but I had no reason in the world for going in if the gardener wasn’t there.”
“You heard no sound from within?”
“Not a sound.”
“And nothing from without?”
“Everything was perfectly quiet.”
“No one could have passed you at any time?”
“Oh, certainly not.”
“Mr. Thorne, would it have been possible for anyone in the cottage to have heard you approaching?”