But now, the witness’ poise was shaken. Of a temperamental nature, Joyce Stannard had thought of something or realised something that affected the trend of her testimony.
Bobsy Roberts watched her with intense interest. “Well, Milady,” he said to her, mentally, “you’ve struck a snag in your well-planned defence. Careful now, don’t leap before you look!”
“Yes,” said Joyce, but her quivering lip precluded further speech.
The Coroner was made decidedly uncomfortable by the sight of her beauty and her distress, always a disquieting combination, and to hide his sympathy, he repeated, brusquely, “The facts, please, as they occurred.”
“I was in the Billiard Room,” Joyce began again, “and I heard, in the studio, a slight sound of some sort, and then the light in here went out.”
“Which was first, the sound or the sudden darkness?”
“The sound—no, the darkness. I don’t really know. Perhaps they were simultaneous.”
“One moment; was the Billiard Room lighted?”
“Yes.”
“And the door between open?”