"Mr. Chestermarke, you heard that the housekeeper here has disappeared?" he asked sharply. "Can you tell anything about it?" "What have I to do with Horbury's housekeeper?" retorted Joseph. "Do your own work!" He passed on, crossing the Market-Place to the Scarnham Arms, and Polke, after gazing at him in silence for a moment, beckoned to his policeman. "Come inside, Jones," he said. He led the way into the house and through the hall to the kitchens at the back, where two women servants stood whispering together. Polke held up a finger to the one who had answered Joseph Chestermarke's summons to the parlour that morning. "Here!" he said, "a word with you. Now, exactly when did Mrs. Carswell go out? You needn't be afraid of speaking, my girl--it'll go no further, and you know who I am." "Not so very long after that young lady was here, Mr. Polke," answered the girl, readily enough. "Within--oh, a quarter of an hour at the most." "Did she say where she was going--to either of you?" asked Polke. "No, sir--not a word!" "To neither of us," said the other--an older--woman, drawing nearer. "She--just went, Mr. Polke." "Had any message--telegram, or aught of that sort--come for her?" asked Polke. "Had anybody been to see her?" "There was no message that I know of," said the housemaid. "But Mr. Joseph came to speak to her." "When?" demanded Polke. "Just after the young lady had gone. He called her out of the kitchen, and they stood talking in the passage there a bit," answered the elder woman. "Of course, Mr. Polke, we didn't hear naught--but we saw 'em." "What happened after that?" asked Polke. "Naught!--but that Mr. Joseph went away, and she came back in here for a minute or two and then went upstairs. And next thing she came down dressed up and went out. She said nothing to us," replied the woman. "You saw her go out?" said Polke. Both women pointed to the passage which communicated with the hall. "When this door's open--as it was," said one, "you can see right through. Yes--we saw her go through the hall door. Of course we thought she'd just slipped out into the town for something." Polke hesitated--and meditated. What use was it, at that juncture, to ask for more particular details of this evident flight? Mrs. Carswell was probably well away from Ecclesborough by that time. He turned back to the hall--and then looked at the women again. "I suppose neither of you ever saw or heard aught of Mr. Horbury on Saturday night--after he'd gone out?" he inquired. The two women glanced at each other in silence. "Did you?" repeated Polke. "Come, now!" "Well, Mr. Polke," said the elder woman, "we didn't. But, of course, we know what's going on--couldn't very well not know, now could we, Mr. Polke? And we can tell you something that may have to do with things." "Out with it, then!" commanded Polke. "Keep nothing back."