And then I gave Stillman another mission—Grainger, Mary Grainger, Nora Lepley.
“Anything particular?” Stillman asked.
“No,” I said. “Everything. I don’t know what it will lead to. It is absolutely new ground.”
I told him all I knew and left him to it.
When Tulmin came in Stillman introduced me as a friend of his named Spencer and for a time we talked on all sorts of topics until Stillman mentioned quite casually that Tulmin had come from Cartordale.
“Did you know Sir Philip Clevedon?” I asked, “the man who was poisoned? A cousin of mine was housekeeper there, name of Halfleet.”
“Mrs. Halfleet, yes, she is the housekeeper,” Tulmin said.
“She thinks he committed suicide,” I observed.
“Nay, she’s wrong there,” Tulmin replied, “he wasn’t the suicide sort.”
“Tulmin,” I said suddenly, “why, I remember that name. You were his secretary, weren’t you, or something of the sort.”