"I can't say, unless Mr. Dimsdale, who had rather a loose tongue, revealed his plan of the trap to someone else. I said nothing."
"Mr. Dimsdale gave no information to anyone in this house," said Frances decisively; "if he had, either I or Ida would have known. As it is, he apparently met this dreadful person in the library at the agreed time. And, now that I think of it," she mused, "I wonder that I did not suspect something of the sort. Mr. Dimsdale told Ida and myself that we could have all the rooms for the ball save the library, as he wished that to himself."
"There's nothing unusual in such a wish," remarked Drench easily. "When a house is upset by a party a man naturally wishes one of his rooms left undisturbed so that he can have peace."
"What happened exactly?" asked Vernon with an air of fatigue.
Inspector Drench signed that Miss Hest should explain, and glanced at his notes as she spoke, to be certain that she was repeating what she had already told him prior to Vernon's entrance.
"It is hard to tell what took place to a minute," protested the lady. "Our guests arrived just before ten o'clock, and everything was going splendidly."
"Everyone was masked, I suppose," said Vernon quietly.
"Oh, yes. But Mr. Dimsdale stood in the Hall until nearly eleven, receiving our guests, and made everyone unmask before they entered the ballroom."
"Why did he do that?" asked Drench suddenly.
"Can't you guess?" put in Vernon impatiently. "Mr. Dimsdale expected The Spider, and wished to see if he would come."