"What does it open into--a hall, lobby, passage, or what?" "A lobby, sir, next to our living-room." "Is there a staircase, then, in that lobby--I mean, by which you can get to the upper rooms in the Moot Hall?" "Oh, yes, sir; that's the staircase we use, me and my husband, when we go up for cleaning and dusting, sir." "Then, if anybody went in by that door while you were out that evening, whoever it was could go up that staircase to the upper rooms?" "Oh, yes, sir, they could." "And get to the Mayor's Parlour?" "Yes, sir. The staircase opens on to the big landing, sir, and the door of the Mayor's Parlour is at the far end of it." "And you were out of your rooms for half an hour that evening?" "Just about that, sir. It would be a bit after half-past seven when I went out, and it was just before eight when I went in again." "Did you notice anything that made you think somebody had been in?" "Oh, no, sir, nothing!" "Had you left your door open--your outer door?" "Yes, sir--a bit ajar. Of course I never thought to be away many minutes, sir." "Very good. That's all, thank you, Mrs. Bunning," said the Coroner. He looked round the court. "Is the Borough Surveyor still there?" he asked. "Mr. Walkershaw? Let him come into the witness-box again." But the Borough Surveyor had gone--nor was he to be found in his office in another part of the building. Once more the Coroner looked round. "I dare say we are all quite familiar with what I may call the geography of St. Lawrence Lane," he remarked. "But I want some formal evidence about it that can be put on the record. I see Mr. Krevin Crood there--I believe Mr. Crood is as big an authority on Hathelsborough as anybody living--perhaps he'll oblige me by coming forward." Krevin Crood, sitting at the front of the densely-packed mass of spectators, rose and walked into the witness-box. The Coroner leaned confidentially in his direction. "Mr. Crood," he said, "I think you're perfectly familiar with St. Lawrence Lane--in its relation to the immediately surrounding property?" "I am, sir," replied Krevin. "Every inch of it!" "Just describe it to us, as if we knew nothing about it," continued the Coroner. "You know what I want, and what I mean."