“Shock,” said Alleyn, “seems to have a period of incubation with some people. Now, as you went down in the lift you faced the switchboard?”
“Yes.”
“All the time?”
“Yes.”
“Did you hear any sort of movement behind you?”
“I d-don’t remember hearing anything at all. It’s not long, is it?”
“It’s precisely thirty seconds to the bottom,” said Alleyn. “You don’t go all the way. Did you hear any sort of thud?”
“If I did, I don’t remember it.”
“All right. To go back a little. While your father interviewed Lord Wutherwood, you were all in here, lying on the carpet in that corner.”
Stephen and Colin exchanged glances. Colin silently framed the word “Patch” with his lips.