“Yes. Willis came in about midnight. He went all to pieces when he found the police there. He was all garbled for a while.
“This morning he talked better. He told us that you had been there and had left the house some time before he went out.”
“That is correct.”
“Here’s what I want to know, Mister Paget. Did you notice anything unusual at the house when you were there? Do you recall the exact time you were there? Anything that Doctor Lukens said or did?”
“I was only there a few minutes,” said Paget thoughtfully. “I had dinner, here, with Mister Burnham. It was about quarter of eight when I left — it’s only ten minutes by cab to Marchand’s house — so I must have gotten there about eight.
“I arrived back here at eight thirty. I remember looking at the clock after I came in, because Jerry and I wanted to start out before nine o’clock.
“Didn’t I tell you that I would be back by half past eight, Jerry?”
Burnham scratched his head.
“Yes, I remember it,” he said. “Eight thirty by the clock right there on the bookcase. I said to be back by nine. You said you’d be back by eight thirty, and you were.
“Jack Greylock came in a couple of minutes before you. He’d probably remember it, too. He was only half lit at the time.”