“It was the most realistic sermon I ever heard,” I said, with a little shudder. “It was like a scene from a play. It was wonderful.” Alice looked up at me quickly. Doubtless my voice had betrayed some agitation. She laid her hand upon my arm. “Don’t think about it this evening,” she begged. “I quite forgot father especially forbade my speaking of it to you. It must have been terrible for you to have been so near it all. I can’t imagine what I should have done. I could see nothing from the organ screen, you know.” I leaned over and looked at her. “Alice, I do not want to talk about it, but I want to know how it ended. You must tell me that.” She hesitated for a moment. “He was quite dead,” she said, slowly. “There was an inquest, and they decided that he must have been attacked somewhere in the wood between the downs and Yellow House. There were all the marks of a struggle within a few hundred yards of the road.” “Did they bring in a verdict of murder?” I asked. Alice nodded. “Yes,” she assented, gravely. “He was murdered. It seems that he was lately come from abroad. He had been staying at Lady Naselton’s, but she knew scarcely anything about him. He was kind to her son abroad. I think they just know his name and that was all. They had no idea where to send to or if he had any near relatives alive. It was all very odd.” “Was he robbed?” I asked. “No. His watch and money were found in his pocket undisturbed. If anything was taken from it it must have been papers only. The police are trying hard to find a clue, but they say that it is a very difficult case. No one seems to have seen him at all after he left Naselton Hall.” I caught at the side of my chair. “No one at all?” I asked. “Not a soul.” I was silent for a moment. The walls of my little chamber had suddenly opened. I saw again from the edge of the moor that lone figure coming down the hillside towards us, I saw that strange light flashing in my father’s face, and I heard the greeting of the two men. A sick dread was in my heart. “Was father called as a witness?” I asked. “No. Why should he be? The man was a stranger to him. He had never seen him before.” I closed my eyes and laid back. Alice bent over me anxiously. “I ought not to have talked about this to you,” she said. “Father absolutely forbade me to, but you wanted to know the end so much. Promise not to think of it any more.”