"chloroform," said Amberley, moving into the living room and striking a match.
The sergeant began to feel real affection for Mr. Corkran.
"But dash it all, it can't have been you I followed all the way from the manor!" protested Anthony.
"It wasn't." Amberley lit the lamp and turned. "It may interest you to know that the sergeant and I were lying in wait for the man you followed. If you hadn't come barging your way into the house with enough row to wake the dead we'd have had him by now."
"Well, damn it, if you were here, why didn't you nab him?" said Anthony.
"Because I wanted to get him in the act, you fool."
"Act of what?"
Amberley gave a sudden laugh. "chloroforming the sergeant. Well, it can't be helped. You'd better tell us your side." He moved across to the window and shut it and pushed the bolt back into place.
It seemed that Corkran had been doing a little detective work on his own account. He had gone to bed upon his return from Greythorne to Norton Manor earlier in the evening, but not to sleep. He had read for some time; he did not think he could have turned his light out until past midnight, and for some time after that he had lain awake. He was just getting drowsy when he heard a faint sound outside. His room looked out on the front of the house, and he had often noticed that the noise of anyone's approach was considerably magnified by the loose gravel which covered the drive.
He had thought it an odd hour for anyone to be out and had had the curiosity to get up and look out of the window. At first the drive had appeared to be deserted, but all at once he had caught a glimpse of a man's back view as he emerged from the shadow of a big rhododendron bush. He must have been about thirty yards from the house and he was going towards the gate, so that Corkran only saw his back, and that very imperfectly. He was walking on the narrow grass border and pushing a bicycle. It must have been the bicycle wheels on the gravel that Corkrann had heard. He wore a long coat and a tweed cap pulled down over his head. Corkran could not recognise him at that distance, but his stealthy mode of progression, coupled with the lateness of the hour, aroused all his suspicions. He had very little doubt himself that it was Collins, and he made up his mind there and then to follow him in the hopes of discovering some valuable clue.