If so, she must have gone there to meet some one. Now we know from Dr. Sheppard

that some one from outside _did_ come to the house that night—the stranger whom

he met just by the gate. At a first glance it would seem that our problem was

solved, and that the stranger went to the summer-house to meet Ursula Bourne. It

was fairly certain that he _did_ go to the summer-house because of the goose

quill. That suggested at once to my mind a taker of drugs—and one who had

acquired the habit on the other side of the Atlantic where sniffing ‘snow’ is

more common than in this country. The man whom Dr. Sheppard met had an American

accent, which fitted in with that supposition.

 

“But I was held up by one point. _The times did not fit._ Ursula Bourne could

certainly not have gone to the summer-house before nine-thirty, whereas the man

must have got there by a few minutes past nine. I could, of course, assume that

he waited there for half an hour. The only alternative supposition was that

there had been two separate meetings in the summer-house that night. _Eh bien_,

as soon as I went into that alternative I found several significant facts. I

discovered that Miss Russell, the housekeeper, had visited Dr. Sheppard that

morning, and had displayed a good deal of interest in cures for victims of the

drug habit. Taking that in conjunction with the goose quill, I assumed that the

man in question came to Fernly to meet the housekeeper, and not Ursula Bourne.

Who, then, did Ursula Bourne come to the rendezvous to meet? I was not long in

doubt. First I found a ring—a wedding ring—with ‘From R.’ and a date inside it.

Then I learnt that Ralph Paton had been seen coming up the path which led to the

summer-house at twenty-five minutes past nine, and I also heard of a certain

conversation which had taken place in the wood near the village that very