"I admire you for sticking up for him," said Kind, sarcastically, "especially as he was so hard on you, Mr. Herries. All the same, if it was not a case of blackmail, why didn't Sir Simon see this man at his own house? Why should he come to a lonely little inn with a large sum of money? Why should he be so anxious to see this stranger, that having retired he placed a red handkerchief in the window, and put a candle behind it by way of a signal? Answer me these questions." "It _does_ seem strange," muttered Browne, thoughtfully. "So strange that there can only be one explanation," retorted the Cheap-jack decisively. "This man, whomsoever he was, could not get to the inn at the appointed time, which was eight o'clock. He came very late, before twelve in fact----" "Why not after twelve?" asked Herries. "Because, as Dr. Browne here will tell you, the millionaire was murdered somewhere about midnight." "I cannot be quite sure," put in Browne hastily. "I made only a superficial examination of the body." "Well, we'll say midnight, as you cannot be very far out of your reckoning." "I certainly think that either at midnight, or shortly afterwards, Sir Simon was killed." "Then that fixes the time. The stranger must have arrived before midnight, as the pair might have had a talk before the murder." "No," said Browne, quickly, "Sir Simon was, I think, from the orderly way in which the bedclothes were placed, murdered in his sleep." "Good," said Kind quite unruffled, "let us say that. The man climbed up to the window, which was left open by Sir Simon with the signal of the red handkerchief, and killed the millionaire." "There is no difficulty about climbing," said Herries thoughtfully, "for when Mrs. Narby found that the door was locked she insisted that Elspeth should climb up the trellis-work." "Ah," said Kind with satisfaction, "that makes the mode of entry more certain. I have not seen the trellis-work, as I have not visited the inn for more than nine months. Mrs. Narby must have had it put up later. But the man must have been a light, active fellow to climb up so slight a ladder. He got in at the window, for the table was moved aside, as if to let him enter,--perhaps by Sir Simon, unless he was asleep." "But why couldn't Sir Simon go to the downstairs front door?" "I told you," said the Cheap-jack with a gesture of impatience. "He wanted to keep the man's visit dark, and knew that Gowrie was in the tap-room. Of course all this is theory, but to-morrow I'll examine the trellis-work, and if I find it broken, for the lightest and most active man might break parts of it, I'll be certain that my theory is absolutely true." "We'll take it as true," said Browne, "well?" "Well," echoed Kind, reflectively, "the stranger enters, and finds, as you say, Sir Simon asleep. He sees the money on the table, or perhaps guesses that it is in the pocket-book." "How do you know that?"