"I will give you my word of honour to preserve secrecy in everything, and likewise to obey your orders as though I were a subordinate," I said eagerly. "Very well," he replied at last, but not without some reluctance. "Of course, you are not attached to the inquiry officially, but I will give you permission to act with us." I thanked him, declaring my intention to use every discretion; and then Rowling gave them a brief description of the character of the man who had discovered the body, and handed them a written report made by the police surgeon, Doctor Douglas, who had been called to examine the body. "There are no suspicions against any one?" inquired Bullen, after he had read the medical statement aloud to his two companions. "None," answered Rowling. "The boundary of the Park is patrolled, but the man on duty last night declares that he saw nobody of whom he could entertain, any suspicion." Then, going to the wall, he pointed out on the ordnance map the position of the park and mansion. This having been examined carefully by all three, Rowling gave them a brief description of the murdered man, his wife and his son, very similar to that given by my gossiping friend of the _Red Lion_. "There were a lot of visitors at the Park, you say," Bullen observed. "Are they still there?" "No. Most of them have returned to London, I believe," I responded. "Ah!" said the detective, in a tone of disappointment; "it would have assisted us greatly if we could have seen what kind of persons they were. But we'd better go down to the house and have a look round." CHAPTER FOURTEEN. A THEORY. Half an hour later I stood beside the body of Colonel Chetwode, making a thorough and complete examination. It was still clothed, just as it had been found, for the local police had given orders that it should not be touched before the arrival of the detectives from headquarters. The body was that of a tall, thin man, with aquiline, refined features, about sixty or so, with iron-grey hair and moustache, and a brow lined by care and anxiety. His evening clothes, wet and muddy, in the broad light of day gave the corpse a disreputable, neglected appearance, which was rendered even more striking by his dishevelled hair and moustache matted with dried mud. Bullen was alone with me, his companions being at the spot where the body was found, and as I proceeded to draw up the blind and examine the wound in the dead man's scalp, the detective stood by in silence watching my examination. The wound near the base of the skull was, I found to my surprise, quite a superficial one. By its appearance I saw that the police doctor had probed it and quickly found that the injury was not of such a nature as to have caused death. "Well?" Bullen asked anxiously. "What do you make out of it. Doctor?" "At present, I can only say that death was not caused by that wound," I responded.