The kindness in his voice seemed to reach her feeble consciousness, and she looked at him earnestly.
“Will you try and recollect?”
She seemed to search his eyes for courage, and gave a trembling nod.
“What time was it when you heard the crash upstairs? Think well.”
She seemed to make an effort to remember. “I don’t know,” she said at last.
“Think again. You were playing patience—the game you have just shown me?”
Her eyes turned to the cards on the table. “Yes,” she said.
“What time did you commence—can you think?”
She shook her head. “I seem to remember it was half-past eight by the kitchen clock when I started my last game. I was alone in the kitchen then. The game was just coming out when I heard a crash—”
She broke off suddenly with a painful sigh and a frightened glance at the hood clock on the wall.