This statement created an immense sensation. Everyone looked at everyone else and then at Lee Darwin, who stood before the coroner with blazing eyes and head flung high.
"I came here to get my belongings and not to be questioned about an affair of which I know nothing!" he exclaimed angrily. "I refuse to answer further."
The coroner shrugged. "Of course it is not really important. You can tell your story in court when you have been arrested as an accessory after the fact."
"I know nothing about it, I tell you!" cried Darwin in exasperation.
"Your footprints were found in the flower-bed, outside the study window. What were you doing there at that time of night?"
Lee Darwin laughed outright, whether with relief or hysteria I don't know, though I incline to the former.
"Your honor, your minions are not as clever as they seem to think. I made those footprints yesterday morning when I left the house through the study window. I turned around and stood there a moment to shake my fist at my uncle," he said, sarcastically.
"Just a moment, Mr. Darwin. Mason," called the coroner.
The old butler came forward timidly. "Did you see Mr. Lee Darwin leave the house yesterday morning?" inquired the coroner.
"No, sir. I knew he was in the study after breakfast but I did not notice whether he came out," he answered, peering anxiously at the young man.