Neither man uttered a word. They looked at the rock under their feet, at the surrounding trees, oak and ash, elm and larch, all of mature growth, and towering thirty to forty feet above their heads, while the rock itself rose some twelve feet from the general level of the sloping ground.
Bates was watching them.
"The fact is, gentlemen, that if an oak an' a couple o' spruce first hadn't been cut down you wouldn't see the house even from where you are," he said. "Mr. Fenley had an idee of buildin' a shelter on this rock, but he let it alone 'coss o' the birds. Ladies would be comin' here, an' a-disturbin' of 'em."
The detectives came down. Furneaux, meaning to put the Inspector in the right frame of mind, said confidentially—
"Brodie saw me instantly."
"Did he, now? It follows that he would have seen any one who fired at Mr. Fenley from that spot."
"It almost follows. We must guard against assuming a chance as a certainty."
"Oh, yes."
"And we must also try to avoid fitting facts into preconceived notions. Now, while the butler is gathering old boots, let us spend a few profitable minutes in this locality."