“Yes, yes,” said the rector. “Well?”
“And then some one come and went at him.”
“Some one,” said the rector, “I thought you said two.”
“So I did, sir, and I thought so at first, but I don’t kind o’ find marks of more than one, and he broke this stick about Mr Vane, and the wonder to me is as he hasn’t killed him. Perhaps he has.”
“But what motive? It could not have been the keepers.”
“Not they, sir. They liked him.”
“Could it be poachers?”
“Can’t say, sir. Hardly. What would they want to ’tack a young gent like that for?”
“Have there been any tramps about who might do it for the sake of robbery?”
“Ha’n’t been a tramp about here for I don’t know how long, sir. We’re quite out of them trash. Looks to me more like a bit o’ spite.”