“Can you tell me, Miss Bostal, whether you and Miss Claris remained in each other’s company from the moment you returned home until your father’s return?”
Miss Bostal reflected.
“Not quite all the time,” she answered, after a moment’s thought. “I tore my dress on a nail as I came through the back door, and I asked Miss Claris to make the tea while I ran up to my room and mended it.”
“And how long were you upstairs?”
“About ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, I should think.”
“You have no way of fixing the time?”
“I had no reason to take particular note of the time; but I think I remember seeing that it was between twenty minutes and a quarter to eight when I went down into the dining-room and lit the fire.”
“Was Miss Claris there?”
“No. She came in with the tea not long afterward.”
“And what time was that?”