“It’s landed us with the wrong man. I can’t help feeling that,” he said. “By the way, Douglas, is Helga left-handed by any chance?”
“No. I’ve played golf and tennis with her, and she’s as right-handed as anyone, as far as I can see.”
“Then we can exclude her.”
“So it’s a case of the Ten Little Nigger Boys—‘and then there was none’?”
“It looks like it. Elimination’s a sound enough system; but we’ve gone off the track somewhere, evidently. We started with three tests, didn’t we? Left-handedness—Motive—and Opportunity. I still believe in the left-handedness. It’s the only definite thing we’ve got, even if it has proved a wash-out in this Eric affair.”
Douglas nodded assent to this.
“Then there must be something wrong with the others, evidently. Suppose we drop the opportunity factor. Really, anyone might have been abroad that night and no one would know about it except by chance.”
“Right.”
“That leaves motive. I don’t see how we’re going to get beyond our earlier notions on that point.”
“Slipped a cog, somewhere, then? Just what I was thinking. And I think I know where it slipped. I’ve seen something that made me sit up somewhat. Let’s stick to left-handedness as a sure winner, for a change, and see if I can’t throw some light on things.”