That, together with the door
locked on the inside, would tend to make Henshaw's death a mystery with a
strong probability in favour of suicide, which would be altogether the
happiest conclusion to arrive at. In fact my hastily formed calculation
was, as we know, subsequently borne out and the suicide theory would
probably have been quietly accepted had it not been for the intervention
of Gervase Henshaw with his smartness and incredulity.
"That is practically the end of my story, Miss Morriston. I laid the
chisel by the body, went to the window, pulled in the rope, carefully got
the centre, adjusted it through the stanchion, and with a last look at
the dead man, got out of the window, a rather nerve-trying business, and
began to lower myself. I had calculated that the double rope was long
enough to take me to within a few feet of the ground, and this proved to
be the case. When I came to the end I let go of one side and pulled the
other with me as I dropped. Then I drew the rope down, the latter half
when released falling with a great thud. Hastily I set off for the lake,
dragging the rope after me. At the landing-stage by the boat-house I
coiled it up as best I could and threw it in.
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