There was a dead silence. Quest began quietly to dust his clothes. The Inspector stopped him.
“Don’t do that,” he said.
Quest paused in his task and laid down the brush.
“Any more questions?”
“Where is your automobile?”
“No idea,” Quest replied. “I left it in the road. When I jumped from the freight car, I took a taxicab to the Professor’s and called for him, as arranged.”
“That is perfectly true,” the Professor intervened. “Mr. Quest called for us, as arranged previously, at ten minutes to twelve.”
The inspector nodded.
“I shall have to ask you to excuse me for a moment,” he said, “while I ring up Number 10 signal tower. If Mr. Quest’s story receives corroboration, the matter is at an end. Where shall I find a telephone?”
“In every room in the house,” Quest answered shortly. “There is one outside in the passage.”