“I am.”
“Be careful, Mr. Vail! Many a man is willing to swear he hasn’t slept a wink when really he dozed off without knowing it. That is a common error.”
“Common or not, I don’t think it is likely I was asleep when Chase was killed. Because I was on my feet and walking.”
“So?”
The chief was interested, formidably interested.
“You know then just when Mr. Chase was killed?”
“I know when the dog set up that racket. Presumably that was the time. I know because I had looked at my watch as I left the house, just before. It was five minutes past three when I looked.”
Dr. Lawton glanced at his own watch.
“It is seven minutes of four,” said he. “My examination proved Mr. Chase cannot have been dead quite an hour. The two times agree.”
“You say you left the house,” pursued the chief, deaf to this interpolation and bending forward, his eyes gripping Vail. “Why did you leave the house?”