"Do you think he's out there, sir, hiding in the bushes?" "I think he's a quarter of a mile away by this time. All the same, until the police arrive the room mustn't be left unwatched for a single moment." He waited until she had obeyed his instructions, and then, with a final glance round, walked swiftly down the passage and took off the receiver. "Get me on to Scotland Yard as soon as possible," he said. There was a note of urgency in his demand which must have carried conviction even to the mind of the clerk, for in something less than ten seconds the reply came. "Scotland Yard speaking. Who's that?" "Dr. Colin Gray. Can you tell me if Inspector Marsden is still there?" "I think so. Hold on a minute and I'll find out." A pause followed. "Hullo!" exclaimed a voice. "I'm Marsden. What's the matter, doctor? I didn't expect to hear from you again at this time of night." "It's a bad business," said Colin quietly. "I'm speaking from the Red Lodge, Campden Hill. I have just found Professor Carter lying dead in his study." "Dead!" came the sharp rejoinder. "How did he die?" "He has been murdered." He heard a sudden exclamation at the other end of the wire. "Murdered! Good God, doctor! Are you certain of what you're saying?" "Perfectly certain. He has been murdered by some man who broke into the house after I had gone to bed. The whole front of his skull has been smashed to pieces." There was a brief silence, followed by a few indistinct words, as though Marsden had turned round and was addressing someone else. Then his voice came again, clear and peremptory. "When did this happen?" "About six or seven minutes ago." "How did the man escape?" "I think he ran out into the garden and climbed over the wall." "Is there any one else in the house besides you?" "There are two old servants. One of them is watching the room now." "You had better go back yourself, and stop there until we arrive. Leave everything exactly as you found it. Don't disturb the body and don't touch or move a single object. We shall be with you in a quarter of an hour. Do you quite understand?" "Quite," said Colin. He hung up the receiver as the detective rang off, and, shivering slightly from the cold, made his way back to where he had left the housekeeper. "They're coming down almost at once," he said. "I'll wait here and let them in." She moved back, as though glad to escape from the sight of the room. "Then I'd better go up and get your dressing gown," she replied. "You'll catch your death standing about like that with nothing on." Colin nodded gratefully. "You might fetch me some slippers, too, while you're about it," he said. "You'll find a pair alongside the bed. I turned out in such a hurry I forgot to put them on."