“I don’t remember.”
“Did you see them after eight-thirty last night?”
“No.”
The chief said to Clutmer, “This man claims to have been hanging around the depot waiting for the nine-o-five train to come in. How about it?”
It was Mrs. Clutmer who answered the question. “That’s absolutely impossible. I told you he couldn’t have been there. The only way he could have caught that train was by the skin of his eyeteeth, because we didn’t leave the platform until just as the train was ready to pull out.”
“You’re sure he couldn’t have been there?”
“Absolutely positive. We had been talking about him, and I’d have noticed him if he’d been there.”
“What time did you get to the depot?”
“Five or ten minutes to nine I think it was. We had to wait about ten minutes for the train to come in, and it was on time.”
Laster looked at me. “There you are.”