At that moment the constable touched him on the shoulder with the broken stick, and Distin started round and in spite of himself shivered at the sight of the pieces.
“Yes,” he said hoarsely, as his face now was ghastly. “You want to speak to me?”
“Yes, sir, just a word or two. Would you mind telling me where you was yesterday afternoon—say from four to six o’clock?”
“I—I don’t remember,” said Distin. “Why do you ask?”
“The law has a right to ask questions, sir, and doesn’t always care about answering of them,” said the man with a twinkle of the eye. “You say you don’t know where you was?”
“No. I am not sure. At the rectory, I think.”
“You aren’t sure, sir, but at the rectory, you think. Got rather a bad memory, haven’t you, sir?”
“No, excellent,” cried Distin desperately.
“You says as you was at the rectory yesterday afternoon when this here was done?”
“How do you know it was done in the afternoon,” said Distin, quickly.