“What has been done with it, by the way?” asked Thorndyke.
“The sergeant who was with me picked it up and rolled it in his handkerchief to carry in his pocket. I took it from him, just as it was, and locked it in a dispatch-box.”
“Has the knife been recognized as Ellis’s property?”
“No, sir, it has not.”
“Were there any recognizable footprints or marks of a struggle?” Thorndyke asked.
The inspector grinned sheepishly. “I haven’t examined the spot, of course, sir,” said he, “but, after the general’s horse and the bloodhounds and the general on foot and me and the gardener and the sergeant and Mr. Hanford had been over it twice, going and returning, why, you see, sir——
“Exactly, exactly,” said Thorndyke. “Well, inspector, I shall be pleased to act for the defence; it seems to me that the case against Ellis is in some respects rather inconclusive.”
The inspector was frankly amazed. “It certainly hadn’t struck me in that light, sir,” he said.
“No? Well, that is my view; and I think the best plan will be for me to come down with you and investigate matters on the spot.”
The inspector assented cheerfully, and, when we had provided him with a newspaper, we withdrew to the laboratory to consult time-tables and prepare for the expedition.