"I don't think it was very pleasant," said Train, unwillingly.
"What an ungallant thing to say!"
"I mean to talk about crime----"
"Is most amusing--I mean instructive. Oh, yes, I have read many of those novels--what do they call them?--detective novels."
"A very low form of literature," said the superior Leonard.
"Oh, they are amusing and interesting, and send one to sleep when one can't in spite of drops and morphia!" babbled Mrs. Ward in her childish manner. "And I have often thought how nice it would be if one could really try and find out who killed a person. Now in this case, Mr. Train, I am sure you heard something or saw something----"
"Upon my word I neither saw nor heard," protested Leonard. "I was in bed all the time."
"Didn't you hear a scream?"
"No."
"Then you must have heard the fall of the body, or the shutting of the door as the--ah!" Mrs. Ward saw from the expression of Leonard's face that she had touched upon something. "You did hear----"