At that Reggie described fully how he and Enid had been "resting" in the bushes at the side of the marshland path, and how at short intervals two men, whom it was too dark to recognize, had passed by. He went on to repeat the evidence dragged from him at the inquest as the result of the eavesdropping of Mr. Lazarus Lowch, telling over again of the weird scream that had startled them a few minutes after the passing of the second unseen pedestrian. And he finished his narrative with the hurried return along the path of a man who, as he passed their lair, was shown by the searchlight on the battleship to be none other than Leslie Chermside.
Mr. Mallory pondered the statement, then asked suddenly, "Did you notice any peculiarity in the footfall of the invisible pedestrians?"
"Yes, we did," Enid answered quickly. "The first to come along was going rapidly, as though he was late for an appointment—almost running, in fact. We could quite plainly hear him puffing and blowing."
"Humph! Cannot you be a little more exact as to the time that elapsed between these four different incidents—the passing of the two unseen wayfarers, the scream, and the disclosure of Chermside by the searchlight? For instance, could the second of the two invisible passers-by have reached the spot where the body was found, when you heard the scream?"
"I couldn't say, sir," replied Reggie with a faint grin at his companion of the fatal night.
"Or whether, after the scream, there had been sufficient time for Chermside to traverse the distance from the same spot to where you were?"
"You see, father," Enid took up her parable as Reggie shook his head, "we didn't know then of any reason for paying attention to these matters. We were discussing things that seemed of far greater importance," she added demurely.
The old diplomatist was in too serious mood to give rein to his sense of humour just then. He allowed his daughter's naïve confession to pass unheeded, and, walking to the window, tried, as men do when face to face with a knotty problem, to concentrate his thoughts by fixing his gaze on some immaterial object. The study window was at the side of the house, with a distant view of the red point at the mouth of the river, and his eyes unconsciously sought that soothing picture without causing any reflex action on the clever brain busy with affairs of more human interest. Close under the window ran the path leading from the tradesmen's entrance to the back door.
"Your vagueness as to time makes it uncertain," Mr. Mallory said presently, "whether Chermside was one of the two men who passed you in the first instance, going outwards from the town. By the way, was he in evening dress?"
"No," replied Reggie and Enid in unison. "He was wearing flannels."