“Yes, sir, I was. As usual. And a frightful night, too, sir.”
“How?”
“Well, Dr. MacArthur, to begin my rheumatism was bothering. And then everything seemed to have hid itself. And then that girl just in here was like a kitten on a brick, sir. Got my hair prickled, so to speak, by running back and asking me if I’d seen anybody on the ward about eleven-fifty and then saying she had felt somebody.”
“Was there any basis for it?”
“None, sir, as I knows. It’s true I was in the kitchen during her feeling spell, so to speak. But, if you will pardon my remarking, sir, I been on that ward ten years coming August and it’s as hard to get past me as a watchdog, sir.”
“Yes, William. I know it is.”
“Thank you, Dr. MacArthur. Thank you.”
“How many times did the nurse come back?” Hoffbein smiled encouragingly.
“Only wunst. And then when she found the woman dead, sir! I was resting with my eyes shet, sir, and she well nigh scared me out of my wits!”
“Was she frightened?” Hoffbein insisted.