“Exactly,” Mason went on. “But when the body was found, a fresh fire was laid in the fireplace. Now, according to your theory, he either laid that fire Monday night, in a grate that had just been used — or else he laid it the next day, after he got back from fishing. That is, he took time to lay the fire before he even took care of his fish. Does that seem logical to you?”
Sergeant Holcomb hesitated a moment, then said, “Well, that’s one of those little things. That doesn’t cut so much ice. Lots of times you’ll find little things which are more or less inconsistent with the general interpretation of evidence.”
“I see,” Mason said. “And when you encounter such little things, what do you do, Sergeant?”
“You just ignore ’em,” Sergeant Holcomb said.
“And how many such little things have you ignored in reaching your conclusion that Fremont C. Sabin was murdered by Helen Monteith?”
“That’s the only one,” Sergeant Holcomb said.
“Very well, let’s look at the evidence from a slightly different angle. Take the alarm clock, for instance. The alarm was run down, was it not?”
“Yes.”
“And where was this alarm clock placed?”
“On the shelf by the bed — or rather on a little table by the bed.”