“Sit down, Inspector,” Sir Clinton invited. “This may take all day, you know, and it’s as cheap sitting as standing.”
When the Inspector had seated himself, the Chief Constable turned to him with a question.
“You’ve seen to it that no one has gone up on to the terrace?”
Inspector Armadale nodded affirmatively.
“No one’s been up on top,” he explained, “I’d like to go and have a look round myself; but since you were so clear about it, I haven’t gone.”
“Don’t go,” Sir Clinton reiterated his order. “I’ve a sound reason for letting no one up there.”
He glanced for a moment at the group of constables.
“Another thing, Inspector,” he continued. “There’s no secrecy about that matter. In fact, it might be useful if you’d let it leak out to the public that no one has been up above there and that no one will be allowed to go until I give the word. Spread it round, you understand?”
Slightly mystified, apparently, the Inspector acquiesced.
“Do you see your way through the case, Sir Clinton?” he demanded. “You’ve given me the facts, but we’ll need a good deal more, it seems to me.”