"Poker," Wingate assented. "Lord Dredlinton preferred bridge but we rather overruled him."
Shields turned towards the two men, who had been silent listeners. In his face there seemed to be some desire for corroboration.
"You two gentlemen were present when Lord Dredlinton died?" he asked.
"We were," Phipps replied, after a moment's hesitation.
"We believed that it was a faint," Rees observed. "Even now it seems impossible to believe that he is dead."
"Dead!—My God!" Phipps repeated, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Nothing else transpired during the evening," the inspector continued, "likely to have proved a shock to his lordship?"
"Nothing," Phipps declared hoarsely. "We must have been playing for a great many hours."
"I am a strong man," Rees added, "and the youngest of the party, but I too—feel faint."
"It seems a little strange, Mr. Wingate," Shields remarked, turning towards him, "that you yourself show not the slightest signs of fatigue."