“Forty or forty-five feet, about.”
“Will you draw it for me, roughly?”
He passed over a pad and pencil, and Dick made a hasty outline. Bassett watched with growing satisfaction.
“Here's the point,” he said, when Dick had finished. “She was there before Donaldson, or at the same time,” as Dick made an impatient movement. “But he had only a dozen yards to go. She was in her room, upstairs. To get down in that time she had to leave her room, descend a staircase, cross a hall and run the length of the living-room, forty-five feet. If the case had ever gone to trial she'd have had to do some explaining.”
“She or Donaldson,” Dick said obstinately.
Bassett read on:
Jean Melis called and sworn.
Q. “Your name?”
A. “Jean Melis.”
Q. “Have you an American residence, Mr. Melis?”