"But let's not consider that just yet. Let's tear some more flimsy shreds out of the situation as it seems. If we come back to that problem of the mummery round the entrance of Depping's visitor, I think we shall see it isn't sensible either way. If for some reason the thing were an abstruse piece of deception, with all details arranged between them beforehand, look at the fantastic nature of one of the details! I refer, gentlemen, to Depping's apparent means of putting out the lights. I can think offhand of several easy and perfecdy safe means of short-circuiting 'em. _. But what, apparendy, does Depping do? He picks up an all-steel buttonhook and shoves it into a live socket—!
"There's the buttonhook. Will any of you volunteer to do it now?"
Morley ran a hand through his sleek dark hair.
"Look here!" he protested plaintively, "I mean to say, come to think of it, if you tried that you'd get a shock that would lay you out for fifteen minutes… "
"If not considerably worse. Quite so."
Hugh Donovan found his voice for the first time. His father had ceased to be formidable now. He said: "I thought you'd just proved, doctor, that the buttonhook was used. And yet anybody would know better than to do a thing like that."
"Oh, it was used right enough; look at it. But go a step further. Can you think of any means by which it could have been used in perfect safety?"
"I confess I scarcely follow you," replied the bishop. "I cannot conjecture that it was in some fashion propped up so that it would fall into the socket at the required moment…"
"No. But what about rubber gloves?" inquired Dr. Fell.
There was a pause.