Then he told of leaving Firehill, coming into Longwood, and going down Maple Lane.
"I reached there a few minutes before seven and ran down to the pine tree where I was to meet her. I drew up to one side of the road and waited. During the time I waited—half an hour—I neither saw nor heard anybody. At half-past seven I decided she had changed her mind again and left."
"You didn't go to the house?"
"No—I was not welcome at the house. She had told me not to go there."
"You were in the habit of seeing her somewhere else, though?"
His face got red again and you could see he had to make an effort not to get angry.
"After I had heard from Miss Hesketh and seen from Dr. Fowler's manner that I was not wanted at Mapleshade, I saw her at intervals. Once or twice we went for walks in the woods, and a few times, perhaps three or four, I met her on the turnpike and took her for a drive in my car."
He then went on to tell how he drove back to Firehill, reaching there a little after nine. The place was empty and he went up to his room. He didn't know how long he'd been there when the telephone rang. It was the mysterious message from her.
He repeated it slowly, evidently trying to give it word for word. You could have heard a pin drop when he ended.
"Did you attempt to question her on the phone?"