My
mother is lying down in the old part of the house. Do you
wish to see her?"
"No. I wish to see you."
By this time they had entered the sitting-room in which the
crime had been committed. The carpets were up, the furniture
had been removed, the walls were bare. Jennings could have
had no better opportunity of seeking for any secret entrance,
the existence of which he suspected by reason of the untimely
sounding of the bell. But everything seemed to be in order.
The floor was of oak, and there was--strangely enough--no
hearth-stone. The French windows opened into the conservatory,
now denuded of its flowers, and stepping into this Jennings
found that the glass roof was entirely closed, save for a
space for ventilation. The assassin could not have entered
or escaped in that way, and there was no exit from the room
save by the door.
"Would you like to see the bedroom?" asked Juliet
sarcastically. "I see you are examining the place, though I
should have thought you would have done so before."
"I did at the time," replied Jennings calmly, "but the place
was then full of furniture and the carpets were down. Let me
see the bedroom by all means."
Juliet led the way into the next room, which was also bare.
There was one window hermetically sealed and with iron
shutters. This looked out on to a kind of well, and light was
reflected from above by means of a sheet of silvered tin. No
one could have got out by the window, and even then, it would
have been difficult to have climbed up the well which led to
the surface of the ground.
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