"Eddy Vail," said Audrey, without a moment's hesitation.
Ralph pushed back his chair and looked at her in astonishment. The restaurant was almost empty, and they had a corner table entirely to themselves, so they could speak very freely, so long as they kept their voices low. "On what grounds do you make that assertion, Audrey?" he asked sharply.
"I overheard a conversation between Badoura and Eddy Vail this morning."
"Oh, and you learnt enough to make you suspect Vail?"
"I learnt plainly that Vail is guilty, if Badoura is to be believed."
Shawe remained silent through sheer astonishment. "Tell me exactly what you did overhear," he remarked at length.
Miss Branwin thereupon lowered her voice still more, so that no whisper could be overheard by other people, and detailed the words which had passed between Badoura and Madame Coralie's husband. "I saw him afterwards with Aunt Flora," finished Audrey, "as she sent him with the letter to my father. He is a nasty impertinent little man, and wished to converse with me. He even offered me his hand"--she shuddered--"as if I could touch it. Well, Ralph, and what do you think of the matter?"
"Badoura's declaration certainly endorses what you said about the time Madame Coralie came down to see you at the door," remarked Shawe, thoughtfully. "If Eddy Vail came up at five minutes to eight and put the clock back to 7.30, that would account for the twenty-five minutes."
"It was certainly nearly half-past eight before I saw Aunt Flora," said Audrey, quickly.
"Then if she came down immediately after entering the still-room, as was stated at the inquest," said Shawe, "the clock must have been wrong. Eddy Vail himself, Madame Coralie, and Badoura all say that it was five minutes after eight when Madame came down to you. Of course, Eddy putting the clock wrong would account for the extra time."