Doc Holmes nodded.
Bardin said, “Okay, boys, get her out. Careful how you handle her.”
Three of the policemen moved forward reluctantly. One of them pushed a long boat-hook into the water and groped for the body.
“Let’s talk to Fedor while this is going on,” Conrad said. “Have him up to the house, will you?”
Bardin sent one of the policemen to fetch Fedor.
As he and Conrad mounted the steps on their way back to the house, he asked, “Well, what do you make of it so far?”
“Looks to me as if it was done by someone who is a fairly frequent visitor to the house. The fact he was admitted by the guard puts him out of the stranger class, and the fact he wiped out the whole of the staff who probably could have identified him, points to it too.”
“Unless some maniac got in and ran amok.”
“The guard wouldn’t have opened the gates to him.”
“He might have. Depends on the story the guy told him.”