The inspector looked at her.
“This is important. Please think, Miss Hoyle. This is very important. How long approximately do you think it was before Mr. Anthony Collyer joined you in the Field of Rest?”
“Twenty minutes perhaps—or it might have been half an hour.”
The inspector looked surprised.
“Half an hour! But that's a long time. What excuse did Mr. Collyer make for being so long?”
“He said he couldn't find the Field of Rest. He hadn't been there before, you know.”
The inspector made no rejoinder. He turned back to his notes.
“What time did you come back to the office, Miss Hoyle?”
“We were a little over an hour,” Cecily confessed. “After half-past one, it would be.”
“Did Mr. Collyer go back with you?”