“I’m suspecting everybody at present; put it like that. Everybody and everything within these four walls.”
“Well, look here, don’t forget your promise, mind. No decisive steps to be taken without me, eh?”
“Yes, but look here, Alec,” Roger said seriously, “you really mustn’t stand out unnecessarily if I might want to take steps that don’t altogether meet with your approval. We’re playing a very grave game, you know, and we can’t treat it as a joy-trip and only do the bits we like and leave out all the nasty part.”
“Yes,” Alec said, a little reluctantly. “I see that. I won’t make a fuss about anything unnecessarily. But we must go on working together.”
“Right!” Roger answered promptly. “That’s a bargain, then. Well, look here, there’s one thing we ought to have done earlier, but it quite slipped my memory. We must have a look for that possible second cartridge case. Personally I don’t believe there is one; I think there was one shot fired from each revolver. But it’s a possibility, and we ought not to overlook it.”
“Rather a tall order, isn’t it? It might be anywhere in the whole grounds.”
“Yes, but there’s only one place that it’s any use to search—the library. If we can’t find it there, we’ll give it up.”
“Very well.”
“Oh, Alexander,” Roger observed unhappily, as they strolled back to the library. “Alexander, we’re very terribly handicapped in this little problem, as Holmes would call it.”
“In what way particularly?”