“Well, of course they were anxious to go.”
“They would be.”
“Reggie, who are you thinking of?”
“I can’t think. There are no facts. Where’s this matron now?”
The inspector came upon them as they were going to her room. “I’ve finished upstairs, sir. Not much for me, is there? Plenty downstairs, though. I reckon I’ll hear some queer stories before I’ve done. These homes are always full of gossip. People living too close together, wonderful what bad blood it makes. I——” He broke off and stared at Reggie. From the matron’s room came the sound of sobbing. He opened the door without a knock.
The matron sat at her writing-table, coldly judicial. A girl in nurse’s uniform was crying on the bosom of Lady Chantry, who caressed her and murmured in her ear.
“Sorry to interrupt, ma’am,” the inspector said, staring hard.
“You don’t interrupt. This girl is Edith Baker, who seems to have been the last person who saw Dr. Hall alive and was certainly the first person who saw her dead.”
“And who was very, very fond of her,” Lady Chantry said gently. “Weren’t you, dear?”
“I’ll have to take her statement,” said the inspector. But the girl was torn with sobbing.