9 p.m.
We were not in any doubt , I believe , about Manderson having dispatched Marlowe in the car to Southampton , or about Marlowe having gone , returning late last night , many hours after the murder was committed . ' ` There is no doubt whatever about all that , ' said Mr. Murch , with a slight emphasis on the verb . ` And now , ' pursued Trent , ` we are invited by this polished and insinuating firearm to believe the following line of propositions : that Marlowe never went to Southampton ; that he returned to the house in the night ; that he somehow , without waking Mrs. Manderson or anybody else , got Manderson to get up , dress himself , and go out into the grounds ; that he then and there shot the said Manderson with his incriminating pistol ; that he carefully cleaned the said pistol , returned to the house and , again without disturbing any one , replaced it in its case in a favourable position to be found by the officers of the law ; that he then withdrew and spent the rest of the day in hiding -- with a large motor car ; and that he turned up , feigning ignorance of the whole affair , at -- what time was it ? ' ` A little after 9 p.m. ' The inspector still stared moodily at Trent . ` As you say , Mr. Trent , that is the first theory suggested by this find , and it seems wild enough -- at least it would do if it did n't fall to pieces at the very start . When the murder was done Marlowe must have been fifty to a hundred miles away . He did go to Southampton . '