half past ten
When I , Furneaux , of the ` Yard , ' lay down a first principle in the investigation of crime , I expect deference on your part . I tell you unhesitatingly that if Doris Martin did n't exist , Adelaide Melhuish would be alive now . That , as a thesis , is nearly as certain a thing as that the sun will rise to-morrow . I go farther , and hazard the guess , not the fixed belief , though my guesses are usually borne out by events , that if Doris Martin had not been in this garden at half past ten on Monday night , Adelaide Melhuish would not have been killed some twenty minutes later . It is useless for you to fume and rage in vain effort to disprove either of these presumptive facts . You are simply beating the air . This mystery centers in and around the postmaster 's daughter .