The sun was going down behind the hills when I reached a village which was only a few miles from the sea. The working day was over, and the villagers were coming home from the fields. Along the road two boys were driving cows and sheep in the direction of the village. I approached a group of people standing near the road and asked them if I could find a place in the village to spend the night. Anold man said he would help me. He took me to his small cottage at the far end of the street. Afire was burning in the stove when we entered the house. One girl of about eighteen was preparing supper in the kitchen while two other girls were still doing something in the kitchen garden near the house. The old man invited me to have supper with them. They all seemed to be nice people and we had a friendly talk. After supper my new friends and I went out into the garden. The moon was shining high in the sky, and the night was warm and beautiful. That evening was very pleasant, and remember it along time.
I called at the Sterns' house at nine-fifteen, I was rather later than I have planned to be because I had visited another patient. When Mrs Stern let me into the house she seemed rather embarrassed and showed me into the sitting-room, I could hear Trevor Stern shouting at someone in his study. Mrs Stern said something about teenage girls and that they had problems with Lucy. Well, the shouting stopped almost immediately, so I went to his study. Lucy had alreadyleft the room before I got there. I tried to explain to Trevor why he needed to have these hospital tests, but he did not let me. He said I was an ignorant country doctor who did not know what he talks about. I realized it was no use arguing with him so I left) after only a few minutes. Iwas quite angry actually. I let myself out of the house without seeing Lucy or Mrs. Stem. Yes, Trevor was my business partner. We were not really friends. Yes, my house was just round the corner from the Sterns. I have lived here for two years. Now. I have a little cottage in the village. But I bought this house when I started earning a lot of money. I can't really tell you very much about the night Trevor died. I took my dog for a long walk that evening, I went up on the hills, away from the village. Then the stupid dog went after a rabbit or something and I lost him in the dark. I looked for him when I met Lucy, as a matter of fact. She walked up the road towards their house. She seemed rather upset. I asked her if she saw the dog, but she said she did not. She went into her house and I found him a few minutes afterwards, I was back home by just after quarter to ten. Detective Inspector Blackledge showed the statements to her colleague, Sergeant Ross. BLACKLEDGE: Well, Ross. What you think? Who killed Stern? ROSS: I do not know. It was not his wife. She did not even go into the study. BLACKLEDGE: But she admitted she did not love him. You think she was love with the doctor? ROSS: It is possible. And perhaps Trevor Stern found out. But we know the doctor was at the hospital by ten o'clock that night. And that was at least half an hour from the Sterns' house. BLACKLEDGE: But that means he left the Stems' house before half past nine. ROSS: Exactly. BLACKLEDGE: Anyway, Dorothy Stern told her sister she would leave her husband. She did not need murder him. ROSS: But what about Lucy? BLACKLEDGE: Yes, there is something about Lucy's story which doesn't quite fit. Let's see, what did Gerald Brook say? ROSS: That's it! Lucy did not walk to the village and back, if he met her at twenty to ten. She still shouted at by her father at nine-fifteen. BLACKLEDGE: But look at all the statements. The times don't fit. ROSS: Neither do the facts. Someone tells lies. BLACKLEDGE: I think it's time we make an arrest.
