He shook his head.
Mrs. Gentrie laughed and said, “Well, Mr. Mason isn’t interested in all of our domestic troubles. That’s the way it is with a large family, Mr. Mason. Someone’s always feeling that his rights are being infringed upon.”
Aunt Rebecca said, “Well, I suppose Mr. Mason wants to ask us a lot of questions, but before he does, I’m certainly going to take advantage of his being here to find out about that thing that was bothering us in the crossword puzzle.”
Mrs. Gentrie said, “Oh, Rebecca, don’t intrude your silly...”
“If I can help, I’ll be only too glad to,” Mason said. “Fire away.”
“It’s a five-letter word, and the second two letters are u-a. It’s a legal term, meaning — what is it, Delman? How did they express it?”
Steele ran his finger down a list of numbers and then said, reading, “A legal term meaning ‘as if; as though; as it were.’ ”
“Five letters?” Mason asked.
“That’s right.”
The lawyer frowned a moment, then said, “Why not try quasi?”