Page:Bat Wing 1921.djvu/185

Rh uncomfortable—that I was seated upon the couch on which the Colonel had reclined. Only one other was present, Dr. Rolleston of Mid-Hatton, a slight, fair man with a brisk, military manner, acquired perhaps during six years of war service. He was standing beside me smoking a cigarette.

“I have taken all the necessary particulars concerning the position of the body,” continued the Inspector, “the nature of the wound, contents of pockets, etc., and I now turn to you, Mr. Harley, as the first person to discover the murdered man.”

Paul Harley lay back in the armchair watching the speaker.

“Before we come to what happened here to-night I should like to be quite clear about your own position in the matter, Mr. Harley. Now”—Inspector Aylesbury raised one finger in forensic manner—“now, you visited me yesterday afternoon, Mr. Harley, and asked for certain information regarding the neighbourhood.”

“I did,” said Harley, shortly.

“The questions which you asked me were,” continued the Inspector, slowly and impressively, “did I know of any negro or coloured people living in, or about, Mid-Hatton, and could I give you a list of the residents within a two-mile radius of Cray’s Folly. I gave you the information which you required, and now it is your turn to give me some. Why did you ask those questions?”

“For this reason,” was the reply—“I had been requested by Colonel Menendez to visit Cray’s Folly, accompanied by my friend, Mr. Knox, in order that I might investigate certain occurrences which had taken place here.”