"I have definitely eliminated all the
servants from the case. Therefore, proceed, Knox, I am all attention."
"I will do so. There is a door on the south side of the house, close to
the tower and opening into the rhododendron shrubbery. This was the
door used by Colonel Menendez in his somnambulistic rambles, according
to his own account. Now, assuming his statement to have been untrue in
one particular, that is, assuming he was not walking in his sleep, but
was fully awake--"
"Eh?" exclaimed Harley, his expression undergoing a subtle change. "Do
you think his statement was untrue?"
"According to my theory, Harley, his statement was untrue, in this
particular, at least. But to proceed: Might he not have employed this
door to admit a nocturnal visitor?"
"It is feasible," muttered Harley, watching me closely.
"For the Colonel to descend to this side door when the household was
sleeping," I continued, "and to admit a woman secretly to Cray's Folly,
would have been a simple matter. Indeed, on the occasions of these
visits he might even have unbolted the door himself after Pedro had
bolted it, in order to enable her to enter without his descending for
the purpose of admitting her.
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