“But he did call a second time, sir. I tell you I heard him, sir. Mr. Giggle must have been too far down to have heard. I was behind Mr. Giggle.”
“And you say you met nobody and saw nobody as you passed along the passage, through the hall, and across the landing?”
“Only Mr. Giggle, sir, and he didn’t notice me. I just caught sight of his back as he went down and Master Michael’s back as he went into the other flat. Before God, sir, it’s true.”
“You are voluble enough,” said Alleyn, “when it comes to your own safety.”
“It’s true,” Tinkerton repeated shrilly. “I’ve said nothing that wasn’t true.”
“You’ve been with Lady Wutherwood fifteen years yet you don’t know the name of the nursing-home she went to or why she went. You don’t know whether she is interested in the supernatural or whether she isn’t. You say she never takes any medicine or drug. Do you still insist that all three statements are truthful?”
“I won’t talk about my lady. My lady hasn’t done anything wrong. She’s frightened and ill and shocked. It’s not my place to answer questions about her.”
Her hands worked drily together against the fabric of her skirt. Alleyn watched her for a moment and then turned aside.
“All right,” he said. “We’ll leave it at that. Before you go I want you to mark on this plan your exact position when Master Michael went into the other flat and when you saw Lord Wutherwood sitting in the lift.”
“I don’t know that I remember exactly.”