"Can you be sure that he made no attempt to enter the house that evening?"
"He could hardly have done that?"
"You were in the house all the evening, and then watched it till you heard the alarming sound of this poor woman's last breath. You are sure that he did not come or go from the house in that time?"
"Have you any reason to suppose he did?"
"Suppose, merely for the sake of argument, that I had reason to suspect he did, can you deny it?"
"I am sure he did not."
"Could you swear to it in a court of justice?"
"No. It was impossible for me to watch every door. I expected him from one direction, and watched only that. I should have expected the dogs to bark if he came within the paling."
"Ah! Then you could not swear that anyone who could silence the dogs might have left the house." The lawyer relapsed into significant silence.