If, as Diana stated, the ribbon had been knotted loosely about the hilt of the stiletto, it must have fallen off unnoticed by the assassin when, weapon in hand, he was retreating from the scene of crime.
"He must have come down here from the sitting-room," mused Denzil, as he stood in the cool, damp kitchen.

"And--as the ribbon was found by Mrs.
Kebby near yonder door--it is most probable that he left the kitchen by that passage for the cellar.

Now it remains for me to find out how he made his exit from the cellar; and also I must look for the stiletto, which he possibly dropped in his flight, as he did the ribbon." While thus soliloquising, Denzil lighted a candle which he had taken the precaution to bring with him for the purpose of making his underground explorations.

Having thus provided himself with means to dispel the darkness, he stepped into the door and descended the stone stairs which led to the cellars.
At the foot of the steps he found himself in a passage running from the front to the back of the house, and forthwith turned to the right in order to reach the particular cellar, which was dug out in the manner of a cave under the back yard.
This, as Lucian ascertained by walking round, was faced with stone and had bins on all four sides for the storage of wine.

Overhead there was a glass skylight, of which the glass was so dusty and dirty that only a few rays of light could struggle into the murky depths below.