Bertha said, “I thought I didn’t have to.”
“Why?”
“I thought I had all the evidence I needed.”
“Then you deliberately overlooked this bit of evidence?”
“Well, I don’t know that there was anything deliberate about.”
“In other words,” Drumson said, “it just hadn’t occurred to you at the time, is that it?”
“Well,” Bertha said, “it—” She hesitated.
“Come, come,” Drumson said, “you must tell your lawyer all the facts of the case, Mrs. Cool, or he cannot work to your best advantage.”
“Well,” Bertha blurted, “Sergeant Sellers kept wanting to go at it that way, but I told him there wasn’t any need to.”
Drumson’s voice held shocked incredulity. “My dear Mrs. Cool! Do you mean to say that the police suggested to you that this logical, this perfectly simple, this very feasible method of locating the person you wanted should be followed, and that you not only refused to conduct such an investigation, but dissuaded them from doing so, and then made this charge against this Imogene Dearborne?”