"Not the slightest. He is not deaf."
"That wasn't quite my meaning. You don't think it possible that he came out on to the landing after you had finished speaking to Miss Birtley?"
"Certainly not. At one moment I was speaking to Miss Birtley; at the next I became aware of young Butterwick hovering just behind me."
"Thank you, that's very clear. Now, I understand that the wire found twisted round Mr. Seaton-Carew's neck has been identified as part of a length bought yesterday afternoon by Miss Birtley, and left by her on the shelf in the cloakroom."
"So I have been told. I never saw the wire myself."
"You didn't go into the cloakroom?"
"I had no occasion to do so. I am aware that Miss Birtley has stated that she left what she did not use of the wire on the shelf. I can only say that if this is true she had no business to do so: the shelf in the cloakroom is not the place for odds and ends. Furthermore," she added, "it seems to me a very peculiar circumstance that not one of my guests saw the wire in the cloakroom."
"Have you any reason for thinking, madam, that Miss Birtley did not leave the wire there?"
She shrugged. "I should not, myself, place any very great reliance on what Miss Birtley said," she replied.
"How long has Miss Birtley been in your employment?"