I said we had better search the house to make sure whether he was there or not, and Mr.Hurst said he would come with me; so we went all over the house and looked in all the rooms, but there was not a sign of Mr.Bellingham in any of them.
Then Mr.Hurst got very nervous and upset, and when he had just snatched a little dinner he ran off to catch the six-thirty train up to town." "You say that Mr.Bellingham could not have left the house because you were watching all the time.

Where were you while you were watching ?" "I was in the kitchen.

I could see the front gate from the kitchen window." "You say that you laid the table for two.

Where did you lay it ?" "In the dining-room, of course." "Could you see the front gate from the dining-room ?" "No, but I could see the study door.

The study is opposite the dining-room." "Do you have to come upstairs to get from the kitchen to the dining-room ?" "Yes, of course you do!" "Then might not Mr.Bellingham have left the house while you were coming up the stairs ?" "No, he couldn't have done." "Why not ?" "Because it would have been impossible." "But why would it have been impossible ?" "Because he couldn't have done it." "I suggest that Mr.Bellingham left the house quietly while you were on the stairs ?" "No, he didn't." "How do you know he did not ?" "I am quite sure he didn't." "What makes you feel sure he did not ?" "I am quite certain he didn't." "But how can you be certain ?" "Because I should have seen him if he had." "But I mean when you were on the stairs." "He was in the study when I was on the stairs." "How do you know he was in the study ?" "Because I showed him in there and he hadn't come out." Mr.Loram paused and took a deep breath, and his lordship flattened his eyelids.
"Is there a side gate to the premises ?" the barrister resumed wearily.
"Yes.