"The section by the south window."
"Thank you." He peered at me through thick lenses. "Thank you Miss—"
"—Hopstead."
"Miss Hopstead. I am Nicholas Worthy. Possibly you knew a friend of mine. Professor Waits? I am carrying on his work."
"Carrying on—? Did something happen to—?"
"Oh. Then you didn't hear. It was most tragic. Professor Waits died of pneumonia. A great loss—a great loss."
I was deeply shocked. My feeling was that of losing a close friend. "No, I hadn't heard. It must have been very sudden."
"It was. He was advanced in years, you know, and after he fell, pneumonia set in quickly. They were unable to save him."
"The Professor had an accident?"
"Yes. He fell down the main staircase of the Reamer mansion and broke his hip."