"So Sir Oswald Coote is ambidextrous?" said Bundle.
"Yes. And I remember now on that night at Chimneys—you know, the night Gerry Wade died—I was watching the bridge and thinking idly how awkwardly someone was dealing—and then realizing that it was because they were dealing with the left hand. Of course, it must have been Sir Oswald."
They all three looked at each other. Loraine shook her head.
"A man like Sir Oswald Coote! It's impossible. What could he have to gain by it?"
"It seems absurd," said Jimmy. "And yet—"
"No. 7 has his own ways of working," quoted Bundle softly. "Supposing this is the way Sir Oswald has really made his fortune?"
"But why stage all that comedy at the Abbey when he'd had the formula at his own works."
"There might be ways of explaining that," said Loraine. "The same line of argument you used about Mr. O'Rourke. Suspicion had to be diverted from him and placed in another quarter."
Bundle nodded eagerly.
"It all fits in. Suspicion is to fall on Bauer and the Countess. Who on earth would ever dream of suspecting Sir Oswald Coote?"