“How long before?”
“I can’t say for certain. It didn’t seem to me more than a minute or two.”
“You don’t know where the others were?”
“Not exactly. I had left Mr. Fargo in the billiard room a moment before. Major Dell and Mr. Nopp had been talking on the veranda.”
“None of these men indicated any previous acquaintance with the butler?”
“None whatever. They were all northern men, from my own part of the country.”
“All of them were your friends?”
“Yes.” His face changed expression, ever so little. “Yes, of course.”
“You four men were in the lounging-room—and you heard a certain sound. Will you describe the sound?”
“It was a scream—I can’t describe it any further.”