“I didn’t see anything!” declared Joyce, with a sudden toss of her head. “I c-couldn’t. It was dark, you know. Then somebody, Blake, you know, turned the switch, and I saw Miss Vernon standing by my dying husband’s——”
“How did you know he was dying? Did you see Miss Vernon strike the blow?”
“No. But she was in the room when I entered—and, too, Eric said it was Natalie and not—me.”
“You are prepared to swear that Miss Vernon was in the room before you were?”
“She was there when I went in.”
“But it was dark, how could you see her?”
“I didn’t. I heard her breathing in a quick, frightened way.”
“And when you first saw her?”
“She was cowering back against the little paint stand.”
“Looking terrified?”