"Then so far as you know, the gun and silencer could have been removed at any time by any guest of yours between noon last Sunday and—today?" Dundee went on relentlessly.
"I—suppose so. But these people have been my close friends for years," the judge answered. "Not one of them, sir—"
"After Mrs. Selim's departure last Sunday, did your other guests remain for any length of time?"
"For an hour or more, I think. Lois and Peter Dunlap remained for our two o'clock Sunday dinner, but the others drifted away to various engagements."
"Did any of you return to the room where the gun was kept?"
"I can speak only for myself and Peter—Mr. Dunlap," Judge Marshall answered, flushing with indignation. "The two of us went down just before dinner was served. I wanted to show him some new flies for trout casting."
"Your home is a popular rendezvous for your intimates, is it not?"
"I pride myself that it is, sir!"
"And guests run in and out, having the freedom of the place?"
"Certainly, sir!... And since I am not so stupid as you imagine, I can tell you now that I understand the drift of your questions, and can forestall them: Yes, all of these people—my friends!—have had opportunity to take the gun and the silencer from the cupboard since it was placed there last Sunday, if it was placed there by Mrs. Selim. But may I remind you, sir, that opportunity alone is not sufficient; that motive—"