"Eh?" ejaculated the Superintendent, consideralby startled.
"What about Mr. Geoffrey, sir?" asked the Sergeant.
"Still more hopeless. We know he left the house at eleven-thirty and returned considerably after one. According to his tale, he went for a long walk. He must have done so, or he may have slipped back to the house and murdered Sir Arthur. With a youth of his type it's almost impossible to say what he might or might not do. In a rage he might be capable of anything. I would suggest, Superintendent, that you have a few inquiries made. I want to know whether anyone saw Mr. Billington-Smith between eleven-thirty and one on Monday, and if so where, and at what time. I jotted down the route he said he took." He hunted in his dispatch-case, and handed over a slip of paper. "And at the same time, I should very much like to find out whether Captain Billington-Smith was seen in the neighbourhood at any time that morning."
"Captain Billington-Smith?" repeated the Superintendent. "You're on the wrong scent there, Mr. Harding. The Captain left the house at ten-forty-five, as you might see by my notes."
"Yes, I did see it," said Harding. "But I should like those inquiries to be set on foot all the same, please."
"What about the foreign young lady, sir?" asked the Sergeant.
"Somehow I don't think so, Sergeant. We shall have to bear her in mind as a possible suspect, of course, but she doesn't interest me much so far."
"The butler, sir?"
"Extremely unlikely. We have discovered no motive."
"This is all very well," interrupted the Superintendent, ,but what are you driving at, that's what I'd like to know?"