“This it where it must have begun, sir.” He pointed to where the wicker work chair had stood.
“What I can’t understand, sir, is how the shutters came to be closed. I never knew Mr. Gascoyne to shut them, and he gave me particular instructions to the contrary. There was no need for them, you see.”
I looked towards the bedroom.
“They took him away to the mortuary, sir, to await the inquest. No man could have been a better master.”
“He was a splendid chap, Mason. You know how I looked up to him.” I spoke in my most ingenuous tones.
“And very fond he was of you, sir. He was always at home to you.”
I pressed half a sovereign into his hand.
“Did he come home alone, Mason?”
“No, sir—at least, I fancy I heard voices. Oh yes, and I heard the door bang. I don’t know who it was, sir, I’m sure.”
The front room was quite burnt out, and there could be absolutely no trace of the oil with which I had started the conflagration.