“We were old friends.”

“Did you hear any sound in Mr. Vail’s cabin that night?”

“None. But, as I say, I was—ill. I might not have noticed.”

“Did you leave your cabin that night of August 11 or early morning of the 12th?”

“Not that I remember.”

“The steersman has testified to seeing you, without your coat, in the chart-room, at two o’clock. Were you there?”

“I may have been—I think not.”

“Why do you say you ‘may have been—I think not’?”

“I was ill. The next day I was delirious. I remember almost nothing of that time.”

“Did you know the woman Karen Hansen?”