Therefore the assassin must have ventured
into the roadway. He could then have walked up the lane into
the main streets of Rexton, or have taken a path opposite to
the gate of Rose Cottage, which leads to the railway station.
Probably, after executing the crime, he took this latter way.
The path runs between quickset hedges, rather high, for a long
distance, past houses, and ends within fifty yards of the
railway station. The criminal could take the first train and
get to town, there to lose himself in the wilderness of
London.
"So far so good. But the strangest thing about this most
mysterious affair is that the bell in the sitting-room rang
two minutes before Susan Grant entered the room to find her
mistress dead. This was some time after the closing of the
door overheard by Thomas; therefore the assassin could not
have escaped that way. Moreover, by this time the policeman
was standing blocking the pathway to the station. Again, the
alarm was given immediately by the other servants, who rushed
to the sitting-room on hearing Susan's scream, and the
policeman at once searched the house. No one was found.
"Now what are we to make of all this? The doctor declares
that Miss Loach when discovered had been dead half an hour,
which corresponds with the time the door was heard to open or
shut by Thomas. So far, it would seem that the assassin had
escaped then, having committed the crime and found the coast
inside and outside the house clear for his flight.
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