If these two folk passed away
by road, it was this road."
"Exactly."
"By a singular and happy chance, we are able to some extent
to check what passed along this road during the night in ques-
tion. At this point, where my pipe is now resting, a county
constable was on duty from twelve to six. It is, as you perceive,
the first cross-road on the east side. This man declares that he
was not absent from his post for an instant, and he is positive
that neither boy nor man could have gone that way unseen. I
have spoken with this policeman to-night, and he appears to me
to be a perfectly reliable person. That blocks this end. We have
now to deal with the other. There is an inn here, the Red Bull,
the landlady of which was ill. She had sent to Mackleton for a
doctor, but he did not arrive until morning, being absent at
another case. The people at the inn were alert all night, awaiting
his coming, and one or other of them seems to have continually
had an eye upon the road. They declare that no one passed. If
their evidence is good, then we are fortunate enough to be able
to block the west, and also to be able to say that the fugitives did
not use the road at all.
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