"Wait a bit!" said Ned. "I was assuming a window had been open. But were the windows fastened before Sir Reginald came in to sit here last thing?"
"Certainly they were that," said the butler emphatically.
"It was a mild night, he might have opened one himself," replied the Procurator Fiscal. "Or supposing the man had come in and left again by the door, what's more likely than that he unsnibbed the window to make people think he had come that way?"
"He would surely have left it wide open," objected Ned.
"Might have thought that too obvious," replied the lawyer, "or might have been afraid of the noise. Unsnibbing would be quite enough to suggest entry that way."
"I've none," grunted Simon. "No definite evidence one way or the other. Mere guesses are no use."
Ned walked to the window and looked at it carefully. Then he threw it up and looked out into the garden.
"Of course you've looked for footsteps underneath?" he asked.
"Naturally," said Simon. "But it's a hard gravel path and grass beyond. One could fancy one saw traces, but no definite evidence."
The window was one of three together, with stone mullions between. They were long windows reaching down nearly to the level of the floor, so that entrance that way was extremely easy if one of them were open. Cromarty got out and stood on the sill examining the middle sash.
Simon regarded him with a curious caustic look for a moment in his eye.
"Yes," said Ned. "Did you look for them?"
For a single instant the Procurator Fiscal seemed a little taken aback. Then he grunted with a half laugh:
"Experienced criminals, that's been convicted before, frequently wears gloves for to prevent their finger prints being spotted," said the learned Bisset.
Mr. Rattar shot him a quick ambiguous glance, and then his eyes assumed their ordinary cold look and he said:
"No evidence anybody ever opened that window from the outside. If they had, Sir Reginald would have heard them."
"Well," said Ned, getting back into the room, "there are no finger marks anyhow."
"The body being found near the door certainly seems to be in favour of Mr. Rattar's opinion," observed the superintendent.
"I thought Mr. Rattar had formed no opinion yet," said Cromarty.
The superintendent looked a trifle perplexed.