midday
`` Now I will give you the evidence of Susan Tarlton , who is the only person who can say anything positive about the matter . It was in the forenoon , between eleven and twelve . She was engaged at the moment in hanging some curtains in the upstairs front bedroom . Professor Coram was still in bed , for when the weather is bad he seldom rises before midday . The housekeeper was busied with some work in the back of the house . Willoughby Smith had been in his bedroom , which he uses as a sitting-room ; but the maid heard him at that moment pass along the passage and descend to the study immediately below her . She did not see him , but she says that she could not be mistaken in his quick , firm tread .