"I thought I had squeezed all the juice out of it, but I see there was a little over," he said. "I'm bound to say that I make nothing of the note except that there was something on hand, and that a woman, as usual was at the bottom of it."
Mr. Scott Eccles had fidgeted in his seat during this conversation.
"I am glad you found the note, since it corroborates my story," said he. "But I beg to point out that I have not yet heard what has happened to Mr. Garcia, nor what has become of his household."
"As to Garcia," said Gregson, "that is easily answered.
He was found dead this morning upon Oxshott Common, nearly a mile from his home.
His head had been smashed to pulp by heavy blows of a sandbag or some such instrument, which had crushed rather than wounded.
It is a lonely corner, and there is no house within a quarter of a mile of the spot.
He had apparently been struck down first from behind, but his assailant had gone on beating him long after he was dead.
It was a most furious assault.
There are no footsteps nor any clue to the criminals."