“You recognized his voice?”
“Well… well, I thought so at the time.”
Mason said, “Voices can be imitated, you know.”
“Exactly when did he leave the office?” Sergeant Holcomb asked.
Mattern said, “Well, to tell you the truth, Sergeant, I don’t know the exact time. It was right after his conversation with Mr. Mason — just a few minutes after that.”
“Can you,” Sergeant Holcomb asked Mason, “fix the exact time of that conversation?”
Mason said cautiously, “I might reconstruct it from data which I could assemble, Sergeant, but I can’t give you the exact time right now.”
Sergeant Holcomb said irritably, “What are you so damned cagey about, Mason? Your clients are in the clear — if their alibis hold up. Why not tell me exactly when that conversation was?”
Mason glanced significantly at Byrl Gailord. “I think,” he said, “that there’s one matter I’ll have to investigate first.
“What’s that?”