“Had you any way of fixing the time?”
“Yes. I heard the dining room clock strike eight as I went by. I noticed it especially, as I thought, ‘That’s eight o’clock and it’s still broad daylight.’ ”
“Did you see anyone on your way out of the house?”
“I met Mr. Ives just outside the nursery door. He had come in late to dinner and hadn’t come up to say good-night to the children before. He asked if they had gone to bed. . . . Shall I go on?”
“Certainly.”
“I said that they were in bed but not asleep, and asked him please not to get them too excited. He had a boat for little Peter in his hand and I was afraid that he would get him in such a state that I wouldn’t be able to do anything with him at all.”
“A boat? What kind of a boat?”
“A little sailboat—a model of a schooner. Mr. Ives had been working on it for some time.”
“Made it himself, had he?”
“Yes. He was very clever at that kind of thing. He’d made Polly a wonderful doll house.”