"Oh, my dear fellow! Good heavens, man, you can't possibly think of suspecting him. Remember, it is he himself who brings the case--that the Yard would never have had anything to do with it but for him." "Quite so. But the local constabulary would; and the simplest way to blind a jackass is to throw dust in his eyes. They are natural born actors, the Americans; they are good schemers and fine planners. Their native game is 'bluff,' and they are very, very careful in the matter of detail." Then he pinched up his chin and sat silent for a moment, watching the green fields and the pleasant farmlands as the limousine went pelting steadily on. CHAPTER XXVII "Suppose, now, that you have succeeded in putting the cart before the horse, Mr. Narkom," Cleek said suddenly, "you proceed to give me, not the ramifications of the case, but the case itself. You have repeatedly spoken of the murder having taken place in some place which is difficult of access and under most mystifying circumstances. Now, if you don't mind, I should like to hear what those circumstances are." "All right, old chap, I'll give you the details as briefly as possible. In the first place, you must know that Heatherington Hall is a very ancient place, dating back, indeed, to those pleasant times when a nobleman's home had to be something of a fortress as well, if he didn't want to wake up some fine morning and find his place 'sacked,' his roof burnt over his head, and himself and his lady either held for ransom or freed from any possibility of having 'headaches' thereafter. Now, a round tower with only one door by which to enter, and no windows other than narrow slits, through which the bowmen could discharge their shafts at an attacking party without exposing themselves to the dangers of a return fire, was the usual means of defence adopted--you'll see dozens of them in Suffolk, dear chap, but whether for reasons of economy or merely to carry out some theory of his own, the first lord of Heatherington Hall did not stick to the general plan. "In brief, instead of building a tall tower rising from the ground itself, he chose to erect upon the roof of the west wing of the building a lower but more commodious one than was customary. That is to say, that while his tower was less than half the height of any other in the country, its circumference was twice as great, and, by reason of the double supply of bowman's slits, equally as effective in withstanding a siege; and, indeed, doubly difficult to assault, as before an invading force could get to the door of the place it would have to fight its way up through the main building to reach the level of it.