"Go on, Overton."
"Captain Cortland, I am aware how badly this looks for me. But I assure you, sir, on my honor as a soldier, that I have no guilty or other knowledge of how the bolt came to be in this fearful condition. I am entirely innocent, sir, of any act that could have put the bolt in such condition."
"You are not guilty even of negligence, Overton?"
"Not of any intentional negligence, sir."
"Then, Overton, you must have some sort of suspicion of how this thing happened."
"I have a suspicion, Captain, but it is not founded on anything that is yet very tangible, sir."
"You think it an enemy's work?"
"Yes, sir. None but an enemy could do such a thing as this to a comrade's rifle."
"Granted, but who is the enemy?"