“‘Lavender went and had dinner at The Black Swan,’ explained Mr. George Higgins, ’and I, after I had had a bite myself, waited outside till I saw him come out.  At about ten o’clock I was rewarded for my trouble.  He told the hall porter to get him a fly and he jumped into it.  I could not hear what direction he gave the driver, but the fly certainly drove off towards the racecourse.

“‘Now, I was interested in this little affair,’ continued the witness, ’and I couldn’t afford a fly.  I started to run.  Of course, I couldn’t keep up with it, but I thought I knew which way my gentleman had gone.  I made straight for the racecourse, and for the hedge at the bottom of Lord Arthur Skelmerton’s grounds.

“’It was rather a dark night and there was a slight drizzle.  I couldn’t see more than about a hundred yards before me.  All at once it seemed to me as if I heard Lavender’s voice talking loudly in the distance.  I hurried forward, and suddenly saw a group of two figures—­mere blurs in the darkness—­for one instant, at a distance of about fifty yards from where I was.

“’The next moment one figure had fallen forward and the other had disappeared.  I ran to the spot, only to find the body of the murdered man lying on the ground.  I stooped to see if I could be of any use to him, and immediately I was collared from behind by Lord Arthur himself.’

“You may imagine,” said the man in the corner, “how keen was the excitement of that moment in court.  Coroner and jury alike literally hung breathless on every word that shabby, vulgar individual uttered.  You see, by itself his evidence would have been worth very little, but coming on the top of that given by James Terry, its significance—­more, its truth—­had become glaringly apparent.  Closely cross-examined, he adhered strictly to his statement; and having finished his evidence, George Higgins remained in charge of the constables, and the next witness of importance was called up.

“This was Mr. Chipps, the senior footman in the employment of Lord Arthur Skelmerton.  He deposed that at about 10.30 on the Friday evening a ‘party’ drove up to ‘The Elms’ in a fly, and asked to see Lord Arthur.  On being told that his lordship had company he seemed terribly put out.

“’I hasked the party to give me ‘is card,’ continued Mr. Chipps, ’as I didn’t know, perhaps, that ’is lordship might wish to see ’im, but I kept ’im standing at the ’all door, as I didn’t altogether like his looks.  I took the card in.  His lordship and the gentlemen was playin’ cards in the smoking-room, and as soon as I could do so without disturbing ‘is lordship, I give him the party’s card.’

“‘What name was there on the card?’ here interrupted the coroner.

“‘I couldn’t say now, sir,’ replied Mr. Chipps; ’I don’t really remember.  It was a name I had never seen before.  But I see so many visiting cards one way and the other in ’is lordship’s ’all that I can’t remember all the names.’