Beatrice started, and grasped the chair near which she stood to keep herself from falling. Vivian had picked up the key when she dropped it under the Witches' Oak. He must have replaced it in the counting-house himself, when he was inside. He had also left the handkerchief which she had in her pocket. Surely he was guilty, and yet--and yet--oh! it was too terrible. A word from the Coroner recalled her. "You look pale, Miss Hedge?" he remarked suspiciously. "And no wonder," said the girl faintly; "the whole affair is so very terrible." "Well, well!" said Arne, relenting, and believing this excuse, which was feasible enough. "I shan't keep you much longer. Why did you not see Mr. Alpenny on that night?" "I have told you: the note----" "Ah! yes. I was about to remark on that when you spoke last--Mr. Inspector, why has not this note been put in evidence?" Inspector Jones, with profuse apologies, laid the note on the table. "I quite forgot," he said, looking ashamed, "but here it is. As you will see, Mr. Alpenny says that he is going away for three days." "Where did you find the note, Miss Hedge?" "Beside my bed on that night. I naturally thought that, as the light was out in the counting-house, and the note explained, that Mr. Alpenny had gone away as he intended." "Quite right--very natural--hum--hum. When you found the body"--he spoke to Durban--"what clothes was it dressed in?" "Mr. Alpenny always wore one suit," and Durban explained the old-fashioned dress; "but when I found the body, it was clothed in a loose cloak which he used to wear in rough weather." "And a hat?" "The hat was on the desk, sir." "Humph!" said Dr. Arne thoughtfully; "then it would seem that he was struck down, just as he was going up to town. Could Mr. Alpenny have caught a train so late?" "Yes, sir, if he left The Camp at nine o'clock. There was a train at half-past ten to Brighton; and he could have caught a late one on the main line, or he could have stopped at Brighton all night. He sometimes did." "It is nearly three miles to our local station," said Dr. Arne. "Could an old man like Mr. Alpenny walk that distance?" "He often did," declared Durban emphatically; "he had a wonderful constitution, had the master." "Marvellous vitality," cried Dr. Herman from his seat, and was rebuked by his enemy the Coroner. Arne asked a few more questions, and then addressed the jury. He pointed out that, on the evidence before them, they could not arrive at any conclusion as to who was the actual murderer. "The man who murdered Colonel Hall," cried Mrs. Snow.