“Have you any theory about this occurrence to-night?” She watched him eagerly as she asked the question.
He made a gesture of bafflement.
“None whatever—it’s beyond me,” he confessed.
“And yet you warned me to leave this house,” said Miss Cornelia cannily. “You didn’t have any reason to believe that the situation was even as serious as it has proved to be?”
“I did the perfectly obvious thing when I warned you,” said the Doctor easily. “Those letters made a distinct threat.”
Miss Cornelia could not deny the truth in his words. And yet she felt decidedly unsatisfied with the way things were progressing.
“You said Fleming had probably been shot from above?” she queried, thinking hard.
The Doctor nodded. “Yes.”
“Have you a pocket-flash, Doctor?” she asked him suddenly.
“Why—yes—” The Doctor did not seem to perceive the significance of the query. “A flashlight is more important to a country Doctor than—castor oil,” he added, with a little smile.