And what else did Inspector Aylesbury wish to know?"
"How can I tell you?" she said in a low voice; and biting her lip
agitatedly she turned her head aside.
"Perhaps I can guess."
"Can you?" she asked, looking at me quickly. "Well, then, he seemed to
attach a ridiculous importance to the fact that I had not retired last
night at the time of the tragedy."
"I know," said I, grimly. "Another preconceived idea of his."
"I told him the truth of the matter, which is surely quite simple, and
at first I was unable to understand the nature of his suspicions. Then,
after a time, his questions enlightened me. He finally suggested, quite
openly, that I had not come down from my room to the corridor in which
Madame de Staemer was lying, but had actually been there at the time!"
"In the corridor outside her room?"
"Yes. He seemed to think that I had just come in from the door near the
end of the east wing and beside the tower, which opens into the
shrubbery."
"That you had just come in?" I exclaimed. "He thinks, then, that you
had been out in the grounds?"
Val Beverley's face had been very pale, but now she flushed
indignantly, and glanced away from me as she replied:
"He dared to suggest that I had been to keep an assignation.
Pages:
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308