夜雨聆风I found that he had, and further, that Miss Cram had returned with him.
The fair Gladys was seated in the police station carrying off matters with ahigh hand. She denied absolutely having taken the suitcase to the woods.
“Just because one of these gossiping old cats had nothing better to dothan look out of her window all night you go and pitch upon me. She’sbeen mistaken once, remember, when she said she saw me at the end ofthe lane on the afternoon of the murder, and if she was mistaken then, indaylight, how can she possibly have recognized me by moonlight?
“Wicked it is, the way these old ladies go on down here. Say anything,they will. And me asleep in my bed as innocent as can be. You ought to beashamed of yourselves, the lot of you.”
“And supposing the landlady of the Blue Boar identifies the suitcase asyours, Miss Cram?”
“If she says anything of the kind, she’s wrong. There’s no name on it.
Nearly everybody’s got a suitcase like that. As for poor Dr. Stone, accusinghim of being a common burglar! And he has a lot of letters after hisname.”
“You refuse to give us any explanation, then, Miss Cram?”
“No refusing about it. You’ve made a mistake, that’s all. You and yourmeddlesome Marples. I won’t say a word more—not without my solicitorpresent. I’m going this minute—unless you’re going to arrest me.”
For answer, the Inspector rose and opened the door for her, and with atoss of the head, Miss Cram walked out.
“That’s the line she takes,” said Slack, coming back to his chair. “Abso-lute denial. And, of course, the old lady may have been mistaken. No jurywould believe you could recognize anyone from that distance on a moon-lit night. And, of course, as I say, the old lady may have made a mistake.”
