“I’ve no intention of running away!” said Maida, proudly.
“No one will run away,” opined Hallen, sagaciously. “The criminal will stand by the other two, and the other two will stand by him.”
“Or her, as the case may be,” supplemented Burdon.
“Her,” Maida assured him. “In the first place, my mother was upstairs in her own room, and my father was not in the den at the time. I was there alone.”
“Oh, yes, your father was in the den,” cried Jeffrey, imploringly.
“No,” said Maida, not catching his meaning.
But Hallen caught it.
“Where was Mr. Wheeler?” he asked.
“I—I don’t know,” Maida said.
“Well, if he wasn’t in the den, and if he wasn’t upstairs, maybe he was in the big living-room, looking out at the fire.”