夜雨聆风Mrs. Bantry sat in the library after dinner and went to bed just beforeten. She turned out the lights when she left the room and, presumably, noone entered the room afterwards. The servants went to bed at half-pastten and Lorrimer, after putting the drinks in the hall, went to bed at aquarter to eleven. Nobody heard anything out of the usual except the thirdhousemaid, and she heard too much! Groans and a blood-curdling yell andsinister footsteps and I don’t know what. The second housemaid whoshares a room with her says the other girl slept all night through without asound. It’s those ones that make up things that cause us all the trouble.”
“What about the forced window?”
“Amateur job, Simmons says; done with a common chisel—ordinary pat-tern—wouldn’t have made much noise. Ought to be a chisel about thehouse but nobody can find it. Still, that’s common enough where tools areconcerned.”
“Think any of the servants know anything?”
Rather unwillingly Inspector Slack replied:
“No, sir, I don’t think they do. They all seemed very shocked and upset. Ihad my suspicions of Lorrimer — reticent, he was, if you know what Imean—but I don’t think there’s anything in it.”
Melchett nodded. He attached no importance to Lorrimer’s reticence.
The energetic Inspector Slack often produced that effect on people he in-terrogated.
The door opened and Dr. Haydock came in.
“Thought I’d look in and give you the rough gist of things.”
“Yes, yes, glad to see you. Well?”
“Nothing much. Just what you’d think. Death was due to strangulation.
Satin waistband of her own dress, which was passed round the neck andcrossed at the back. Quite easy and simple to do. Wouldn’t have neededgreat strength—that is, if the girl were taken by surprise. There are nosigns of a struggle.”
