"He was stabbed from behind while opening the gate," he said judicially, "and fell forward into the garden. Look at this stain, and this; the poor gentleman had strength enough to crawl these few yards. Wanted to reach the door, no doubt. What brought you out, ma'am?"
"His cry! I was waiting up for him in the back bedroom, and I heard a shriek. At first I was afraid, as this place is very lonely. Then I came to the door with a candle, and ran down the path. Edgar was moaning dreadfully, and died almost immediately afterwards."
Mrs. Moxton understood his inference directly. "It blew out the candle," she explained; "but I ran from the door, shading it with my hand, and as there was a lull for a moment, I had just time to catch a glimpse of his face and recognise my husband."
"Some time after eleven. I can't say when. I did not look at my watch."
"It was exactly half-past eleven when you entered my house," said Ellis.
"Then Edgar was murdered between eleven and half-past. I wound up my watch for the night at eleven, and at that time I had not heard the cry. I ran all the way to your house."
"That would take five minutes, more or less," said Cass.
"And the man must have lived some minutes after the blow, to crawl this distance," observed the inspector, measuring the space with his eye. "Did you come out at once, ma'am?"
"No!" replied Mrs. Moxton, with some hesitation. "I was afraid. I heard the cry and waited for a time, thinking I was mistaken. It was about ten minutes, more or less, before I summoned up courage to open the front door."
"On the whole," said Ellis, "it would seem that the murder was committed at a quarter past eleven. Well, Mr. Drake, what is to be done?"
"Nothing can be done until the morning," replied Drake. "The man who did this is no doubt far enough away by this time."
"A man!" cried Mrs. Moxton. "Do you think a man did it?"
The inspector was on the alert immediately. "Have you any reason to think that a woman killed him?" he asked sharply.
"I! No. I cannot guess who committed the murder." Mrs. Moxton seemed anxious, nervous, and sorry she had said so much. "Shall we take the body into the house, sir?" she asked in a low tone.
"It will be as well, ma'am, and I shall leave this constable to look after it for the night."