Superintendent Merrington, while awaiting the arrival of Miss Heredith, drew forth the plan of the moat-house which Caldew had sketched, and studied it closely.
The moat-house had only two stories, but it was a rambling old place and covered a considerable area of ground, facing three sides of the county.
The principal portion, consisting of the old house which had been burnt down and rebuilt, faced the north.

The two wings had been added later.
The front door opened into a spacious entrance hall which in former times had been the dining-room.

At the end of the hall was the grand staircase, adorned by statues, armour, and the Heredith arms carved in panels.

The principal rooms, with the exception of the dining-room, were all on the ground floor of the main building, but corridors led off the entrance hall to the newer wings at each side, extending on the right side to the billiard room, conservatory, greenhouses, and orangery, and on the left side to the dining-room, Miss Heredith's private sitting-room, and Sir Philip's study.
Merrington carefully studied the arrangements of this wing, as depicted on Caldew's sketch plan.

The upper portion was reached by a staircase which opened off the corridor almost opposite the dining-room door, and ran, with one turning, to a landing which was only a few feet away from the door of the bedroom in which Mrs.Heredith was murdered.