"I'm sure I----"

"Are there bells in the bed-rooms?"

"Yes, but----"

"Where do they ring?"

"Er--in the office. It is an English system----"

"Were there any calls between eleven and half-past twelve?"

Rowland was shooting his questions at the bewildered clerk like thunderbolts, and the man seemed to have grown more and more anxious.

"Calls? I dropped into a doze in my chair, as I have said. I cannot----"

"Think----!"

"Yes, a call or two--but I was half asleep----"