“Mr. Barnes is your next neighbor?”
“He is.”
“How does it come, then, that he did not see you until after seven?”
“The reason of that was, that in my haste I was careless, and in going down the stairs I tripped and fell, as a result of which I landed at the foot in a senseless condition.”
“What stairs were these?”
“Those at the front of the house.”
“There is a stair at the rear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How did it happen that you did not first untie your fellow servants?”
“I cannot explain that, sir, even to myself. I merely knew that my master was murdered, and was anxious to get his friend here as soon as possible.”