“The doctor said, as nearly as he could judge, about ten feet or so away.”
“H’m,” and Fibsy looked thoughtful. “That would just about suit all three of the present claimants for the honor, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes; and would preclude anybody not inside the room.”
“Unless he was close to the window.”
“Sure. But it ain’t likely, is it now, that a rank outsider would come right up to the window and fire through it, and not be seen by anybody?”
“No; it isn’t. And, of course, if that had happened, and any one of the three Wheelers had seen it, they would be only too glad to tell of it. I wonder they haven’t made up some such yarn as that.”
“You don’t know the Wheelers. I do, and I can see how they would perjure themselves—any of them—and confess to a crime they didn’t commit, to save each other—but it wouldn’t occur to them to invent a murderer—or to say they saw some one they didn’t see. Do you get the difference?”
“Being an expert in the lyin’ game, I do,” and Fibsy winked.
“It isn’t only that. It’s not only that they’re unwilling to lie about it, but they haven’t the—the, well, ingenuity to contrive a plausible yarn.”
“Not being lying experts, just as I said,” Fibsy observed. “Well, we all have our own kind of cleverness. Now, mine is finding things. Want to see an example?”