“And how did you repay him,” exclaimed Inspector Chippenfield sternly, “by murdering him?”

The butler was startled by the suddenness of the accusation, as Inspector Chippenfield intended he should be.

“Me!” he exclaimed.  “As sure as there is a God in Heaven I had nothing to do with it.”

“That won’t go down with me, Field,” said the police officer, giving the wretched man another prolonged penetrating look.

“It’s true; it’s true!” he protested wildly.  “I had nothing to do with it.  I couldn’t do a thing like that, sir.  I couldn’t kill a man if I wanted to—­I haven’t the nerve.  But I knew I would be suspected,” he added, in a tone of self-pity.

“Oh, you did?” replied Inspector Chippenfield.  “And why was that?”

“Because of my past.”

“Where were you on the date of the murder?”

“In the morning I came over here to look round as usual, and I found everything all right.”

“You did that every day while Sir Horace was away?”

“Not every day, sir.  Three times a week:  Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.”

“Did you enter the house or just look round?”

“I always came inside.”

“What for?”

“To make quite sure that everything was all right.”

“And was everything all right the morning of the 18th?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You are quite sure of that?  You looked round carefully?”

“Well, sir, I just gave a glance round, for of course I didn’t expect anything would be wrong.”

Inspector Chippenfield fixed a steady glance on the butler to ascertain if he was conscious of the trap he had avoided.

“Did you look in this room?”

“Yes, sir.  I made a point of looking in all the rooms.”

“You are sure that Sir Horace’s dead body was not lying here?” Inspector Chippenfield pointed beside the desk where the body had been found.

“Oh, no, sir.  I’d have seen it if it had.”

“There was no sign anywhere of his having returned from Scotland?”

“No, sir.”

“You didn’t know he was returning?”

“No, sir.”

“What time did you leave the house?”

“It would be about a quarter past twelve, sir.”

“And what did you do after that?”

“I went home and had my dinner.  In the afternoon I took my little girl to the Zoo.  I had promised her for a long time that I would take her to the Zoo.”

“And what did you do after visiting the Zoo?”

“We went home for supper.  After supper my wife took the little girl to the picture palace in Camden Road.  It was quite a holiday, sir, for her.”

“And what did you do while your wife and child were at the pictures?”

“I stayed at home and minded the shop.  When they came home we all went to bed.  My wife will tell you the same thing.”

“I’ve no doubt she will,” said the inspector drily.  “Well, if you didn’t murder Sir Horace yourself when did you first hear that he had been murdered?”