“No, before. I only discovered their loss three-quarters of an hour ago.”
“How long were your wife and her friends in this office?” inquired Douglas persistently.
“About fifteen minutes.”
“Then how does it happen that I saw Miss Eleanor Thornton descending in one of the elevators when the Secretary and I were on our way to this office to see you?”
“Oh, Miss Eleanor told me that she was going to the library to look up the records of some of her ancestors, as she wishes to join the Colonial Dames. I think she has been up there ever since. My wife and Colonel Thornton left together without waiting for her.”
“You are absolutely certain, Wyndham, that you haven’t been out of this office except on that one occasion?” asked the Secretary of State for the second time.
“I will take my Bible oath on it,” exclaimed Wyndham solemnly.
The three men gazed at each other in silence, each busy with his own thoughts. The Secretary of State was the first to recover himself.
“Have you had your lunch, Wyndham?” he inquired.