Hale, a
lawyer of repute and the legal adviser of Miss Loach, depart
before ten o'clock. In her evidence Mrs. Herne stated that
she and Mr. Hale left at half-past nine, and her assertion was
corroborated by Mr. Hale himself. Mr. Clancy, the third
friend, left at ten, being shown out by the maid Susan Grant,
who then returned to the kitchen. She left Miss Loach seated
in her usual chair near the fire, and with a pack of cards on
her lap. Probably the deceased lady intended to play a game
of 'Patience'!
"The four servants, three women and a man, had their supper.
During the supper the man asserted that he heard the front
door open, but as Miss Loach was in the habit of walking in
the garden before retiring, it was thought that she had gone
out to take her usual stroll. Whether the man heard the door
open or shut he was not quite sure. However, thinking his
mistress was walking in the garden as usual, the man paid no
further attention to the incident. At eleven (precisely at
eleven, for the kitchen clock struck), the sitting-room bell
rang. Susan Grant entered the room, and found Miss Loach
seated in her chair exactly as she had left her, even to the
fact that the cards were in her lap. But she had been stabbed
to the heart with some sharp instrument and was quite dead.
The front door was closed and the windows barred.
"Now it is certain that Miss Loach met her death between the
hours of ten and eleven. Susan Grant saw her alive at ten,
seated in her usual chair with the cards on her lap, and at
eleven, she there found her dead, still with the cards.
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