Harding wrote something down in his notebook. "Thank you. Sergeant, will you ring the bell, please?"
Halliday sat watching him in a fidgety silence. After; moment he said with forced lightness: "If there's anything else I can tell you, Inspector, naturally I should be only too glad to."
"I don't think there's anything else just now, Mr. Halliday." Harding looked up as the butler came in. "Would you be good enough to ask Mrs. Halliday to come here?" he said.
"You'll find her in the drawing-room, Finch," interpolated Halliday. He turned back to Harding. "She's a bit upset about the whole business, you know. I must say, it came as a bad shock to me too. I was absolutely thunderstruck. I suppose there's no chance it could have been done by an outsider? That's what Lady Billington-Smith thinks, you know. Someone who must have entered by the window."
"Until I have a little more data, Mr. Halliday, I'm afraid I can't venture any opinion," replied Harding expressionlessly.
"Of course the unfortunate part of it is that there are so many of us who might have done it," said Halliday ruefully. "Myself, and Guest, and young Billington-Smith, and I suppose Miss de Silva as well. I don't mind telling you that I shall be rather glad when it's been cleared up. I'm not a fool, and I can't but see that so far everything points either to me or to Billington-Smith." He looked round quickly as his wife came in. "Ah, there you are, Camilla! Come along, dear: the Inspector just wants to ask you one or two questions."
Harding had risen. "Will you sit down, Mrs. Halliday? Yes, in that chair, please." He turned to Halliday. "I won't keep you any longer Mr. Halliday," he said pleasantly.
"Oh, that's all right, Inspector!" Halliday replied. "I'll stay till you've finished with my wife."
"I would rather see your wife alone, if you don't mind," said Harding, still pleasantly, but with a note of purpose in his voice.
Halliday frowned. "Is that entirely necessary? My wife would much prefer me to stay with her — she's feeling very nervy still, aren't you, Camilla?"