“Yes, they were there when I came back from school.”
“Now, tell me, during all that time have you ever known either of them the worse for drink?”
“Oh, no,” Ruth answered, surprised at the question. “No, never.”
“You have never even noticed the smell of drink from either of them?” the sergeant persisted.
“No.” Ruth hesitated. “At least—that is—”
“Yes?” went on the sergeant encouragingly.
“Once or twice Roper has smelt of whisky, but he was never the least bit the worse of it.”
“But you have smelt it. Was that recently?”
“Yes, but Roper explained about it. He said he felt a cold coming on and had taken some whisky in the hope of getting rid of it.”
“Quite so. And how long ago was that?”