noon
`` Did he state his errand ? '' `` No , sir . '' `` When did he return ? '' `` I saw his horse standing in the yard outside the stables about half an hour after , and then 't was gone , and I did n't see it again till noon . '' Walter LaGrange was next called . He stated that he had spent the greater part of the day preceding the murder away from Fair Oaks ; he had not been at home to luncheon or dinner , and consequently knew nothing of the strangers seen on the place that day . He had returned about half-past ten that evening , and remembered seeing Mr. Mainwaring and his guests seated on the veranda , but he had gone directly to his room without meeting any one .