nine o'clock in the evening
Come in and have some tea , Miss Fouracres . ' Mr. Ruddiman would not be denied ; he waited upon his hostess , got her a very comfortable tea , and sat near her whilst she was enjoying it . Miss Fouracres ' story of the day 's events still left her father 's death most mysterious . All that could be certainly known was that the landlord of the Pig and Whistle had drunk rather freely with his friend the gardener at an inn at Woodbury , and towards nine o'clock in the evening had gone out , as he said , for a stroll before bedtime . Why he entered the grounds of Woodbury Manor , and how he got into the pond there , no one could say . People talked of suicide , but Miss Fouracres would not entertain that suggestion . Of course there was to be an inquest , and one could only await the result of such evidence as might be forthcoming .