"Which he thought to overcome by an act of faith, presumably."
"I don't follow you."
"He made no attempt to get out of the car. It was a damp night, the road was muddy. The man's shoes were perfectly dry."
"True." The colonel nodded and fingered his moustache. "Then we're left - in default of other evidence - with the theory that he went to meet someone. But surely an odd place and an odd hour to choose?"
"It depends which way you look at it," said Amberley. "If he had any reason to wish to keep that meeting secret, not such an odd place or hour."
"Yes. Yes, there is something in that," admitted the colonel. "But we must not lose sight of the fact that the man was in no sense a suspicious character. He had been at the manor for many years, he was well known in the district; a decent, quiet servant, with no entanglements, not even a flirtation to his record. And this furtive assignation, you know, undoubtedly points to a woman in the case."
"I should not say "undoubtedly"," Mr. Amberley said. "Perhaps not. No, perhaps not. But go on, my dear fellow. Your third fact?"
"My third fact — also significant - is that Dawson was taken quite unawares and was shot before he knew that he was in any danger."
"Yes, I can see your reasoning. You are going on his position at the time of the murder. You assume that the person or persons whom he had gone to meet were lying in wait for him?"
"As a matter of fact, I don't. If the person he was going to meet had any reason for wishing him dead it is unlikely that Dawson would not have known it. In which case he would have been on his guard. Which he was not. Taking into consideration the hour, the place and the manner of the murder, I suggest that someone who had a very good reason for not wishing the assignation to take place discovered that it had been made and followed Dawson to the spot, and there shot him."