“No, sir. No one has been to the house at all this evening.”
“What about the back?”
“I don’t think so, sir, but I’ll make inquiries.”
He moved towards the door, but the inspector held up a large hand. “No, thanks. I’ll do my own inquiring. But first of all I want to fix the times a little more clearly. When was Mr. Ackroyd last seen alive?”
“Probably by me,” I said, “when I left at—let me see—about ten minutes to nine. He told me that he didn’t wish to be disturbed, and I repeated the order to Parker.”
“Just so, sir,” said Parker respectfully.
“ Mr. Ackroyd was certainly alive at half-past nine,” put in Raymond, “for I heard his voice in here talking.”
“Who was he talking to?”
“That I don’t know. Of course, at the time I took it for granted that it was Dr. Sheppard who was with him. I wanted to ask him a question about some papers I was engaged upon, but when I heard the voices I remembered that he had said he wanted to talk to Dr. Sheppard without being disturbed, and I went away again. But now it seems that the doctor had already left?”
I nodded. “I was at home by a quarter past nine,” I said. “I didn’t go out again until I received the telephone call.”
“Who could have been with him at half-past nine?” queried the inspector. “It wasn’t you, Mr. —er—”
“Major Blunt,” I said.