"There's no joke about this, sir?" the chief inspector demanded.
"No. I can swear to every word of it."
Masters was incredulous. "Mr. Fane, that respectable chap, killed this girl Polly Allen because— hurrum?"
"It's been done before, y'know," H.M. pointed out. "In fact, you and I can both remember a few names in that way. If you're quotin' cases to me, do you remember who used the atropine in the Haye business?" *
"Just a minute, sir!" urged Masters. "But what did he do with the girl afterwards, Mr. Courtney? There's no murder ever been reported. At least, as far as Agnew mentioned to me."
*See Death in Five Boxes, William Morrow & Company, 1938.
Courtney could not help him.
"All I can tell you," he replied, "is Mrs. Fane's answers to Rich's questions."
"Under hypnosis? Or at least so she pretended?"
"If you insist on that, yes. Arthur Fane strangled this girl on the sofa in the back drawing room. That's as far as Rich got with his questioning before he was interrupted. He had just asked, 'Does anybody else know about this?' and she said, 'Yes,' and was going to tell him who, when they knocked at the door and he had to stop."