"Thank you, sir," the inspector said. "If more witnesses were as clear as you are the police would have an easier time."
Charles smiled. "I'm not exactly new to this sort of thing," he said.
The inspector cast him a shrewd glance. "I thought I'd spotted you, sir. I saw you at the Norchester Assizes about six months ago, didn't I?"
"Quite possibly," Charles said. "Now there's one other thing I'd like to mention. When my brother-in-law and I reached the Bell Inn, the barman went to rouse Wilkes, the landlord, while I was ringing you up. As soon as I had finished speaking to the station, I turned round to find that Strange had come in with his own latchkey, and had been listening to all I'd said."
The doctor looked up sharply. "Strange?" he repeated.
"Yes, doctor, we've got a note about him," the inspector said. "Go on, sir."
"He asked us what we had found, and upon my refusing to tell him, he seemed distinctly annoyed, and said, as near as I can remember, that he advised us to stop poking our noses where they weren't wanted. I asked whether that was a threat, and he replied that it was a warning which he advised us to take."
"That's very interesting, sir," the inspector said. "You say he came in from the street?"
"Yes, using his own key."
"Then Strange was not in the Inn when this happened," the inspector said. "I think I'll be having a word with him." He nodded to the sergeant. "You'd better run these gentlemen back to, their home, Matthews. I take it they know at the Inn where we are, sir?"