"It had not when I left the Towers."
Drelincourt seated himself on the fallen trunk, and resting his elbows on his knees, he bent his eyes on the ground.
"As soon as the crime became known," resumed the other, "I sent off a groom on horseback to fetch Dr. Carew. On the way he met Mr. Ormsby and told him the news, and was ordered by him to at once communicate with the police."
"A very proper thing to do."
"Mr. Ormsby, accompanied by another gentleman, a stranger, had just reached the Towers before I left it."
"To come in search of me?"
"Exactly. It has taken me nearly an hour to find you. I hurried, first of all, to the Cot, but you were not there. Margery Trant had not heard you leave the house, and was unable to tell me in which direction you had gone. I set out to look for you, and it must have been instinct which directed my steps to this place."
He paused. A throstle in the wood piped a few notes and then ceased.
"Go on," said Drelincourt, without looking up. "You have something more to tell me."
"As I bent over Mrs. Drelincourt's dead body, I found this close by her pillow."