"You're quite a detective, Miss Browning," he observed, and the color rose in her face. "I can't help agreeing. It is true. And in that case…"
Ann frowned.
"Well, you see, in that case it means that somebody who wasn't in the room must have sneaked in and—"
She paused. As her eyes moved round, they rested on Hubert Fane; and her expression became frightened.
"So," observed Dr. Rich thoughtfully.
Hubert Fane had one hand on the back of a chair. He looked like a man on whom the fates are playing dirty tricks much faster and more unreasonably than any human being ever deserved.
"Please don't think—!" began Ann.
Hubert cleared his throat.
"Your delicacy, Miss Browning," he said, "fills me with ecstasy. At the same time, I. am capable of taking a bint. Madam, I did not kill my nephew. I think I can give you my solemn assurance that he was the last person in the world I wished to see dead. It is true that I was obliged to leave the room. But, apart from the fact that I was talking to a grasping bookmaker named—"
"Wait!" urged Ann.