“So far as I know, they are all here. Mr. Hessel is his executor; he has the keys.”
“Has he been through them at all, or taken any away?”
“I don’t think so. He locked the study up and except for a short time, nobody’s been in there since. The housemaids are getting rather restive.”
“And no one else could have got at them?”
“No. He sent for me directly the body was carried upstairs—Sir Garth was brought into the morning-room first, you know, and as soon as the doctor had finished his examination, the body was carried upstairs. Hessel sent for me at once and said that he knew Sir Garth had appointed him sole executor and that it would be well to lock up all the papers and so on at once. I took him into the study—it’s next door to the morning-room, you know—between that and this. I took him into the study and showed him where everything was. We locked everything up—we got Sir Garth’s keys, by the way—the wall safe was locked already and so were some of the drawers in his desk. I was able to show Mr. Hessel pretty well what the different drawers contained—Sir Garth was a very methodical man. After that we locked all three doors of the room—the one into the hall, the one into the morning-room, and this one.”
“So that after that, nobody could have got into the study without Mr. Hessel’s knowledge and consent. But before that, was the door leading from the study to the hall locked?”
“Oh no.”
“So that anyone could have got into the study from the hall?”
“Yes.”
“Or, of course, from this room?”