I had a notion to put him out without bothering Mr.
Vantine--I wish now I had--but I took his card up, and Mr. Vantine
said for him to wait; so I come downstairs again, and showed the man
in here, and said Mr. Vantine would see him presently, and then
Rogers and me went back to our lunch and we sat there eating till the
bell rang, and I came in and found Mr. Vantine here."
"Do you mean to say that you and Rogers went away and left this
stranger here by himself?"
"The servants' dining-room is right at the end of the hall, sir. We
left the door open so that we could see right along the hall, clear
to the front door. If he'd come out into the hall, we'd have seen
him."
"And he didn't come out into the hall while you were there?"
"No, sir."
"Did anybody come in?"
"Oh, no, sir; the front door has a snap-lock. It can't be opened from
the outside without a key."
"So you are perfectly sure that no one either entered or left the
house by the front door while you and Rogers were sitting there?"
"Nor by the back door either, sir; to get out the back way, you have
to pass through the room where we were."
"Where were the other servants?"
"The cook was in the kitchen, sir.
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