“The policeman was on duty about ten, as he was seen by Susan Grant when she showed Mr. Clancy to the door.  The policeman also asserted that he was again on the spot—­i.e., in the roadway opposite the cottage—­at eleven.  At these times the assassin could not have escaped without being seen.  There is no exit at the back, as a high wall running round an unfinished house belonging to the eccentric Lord Caranby blocks the way.  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.  But who rang the bell?  That is the question we ask.  The deceased could not have done so, as, according to the doctor, the poor lady must have died immediately.  Again, the assassin would not have been so foolish as to ring and thus draw attention to his crime, letting alone the question that he could not have escaped at that late hour.  We can only offer this solution.

“The assassin must have been concealed in the bedroom, and after Susan ascended the stairs to let Mr. Clancy out, he must have stolen into the sitting-room and have killed the old lady before she could even rise.  She might have touched the bell, and the button (the bell is an electric one) may have got fixed.  Later on, the heat of the room, warping the wood round the ivory button, may have caused it to slip out, and thus the bell would have rung.  Of course our readers may say that when pressed down the bell would have rung continuously, but an examination has revealed that the wires were out of order.  It is not improbable that the sudden release of the button may have touched the wires and have set them ringing.  The peal is described as being short and sharp.  This theory is a weak one, we are aware, but the whole case is so mysterious that, weak as it is, we can offer no other solution.