“Yes, he did. Landon telephoned the night before. You were all out and Stryker took the message.”
“How do you know?”
“I have ferreted it all out from the other servants. The facts, I mean,—not my deductions from them.”
“Have you spoken to them about Stryker?”
“No; I wanted to speak to you about it first.”
“Mr. Duane, I will be frank with you. I don’t want Kane Landon suspected of this crime. I know he is innocent. I know, too, that some evidence seems to be against him. But that is only seeming. He is entirely innocent. Now, if Stryker is innocent, also, I don’t want to direct suspicion to him. And it doesn’t seem to me you have any real evidence against him.”
“But, my theory is that he was only a tool in the hands of the principal criminal.”
“Mrs. Black?”
“Yes.”
“Preposterous! Incredible!”