“I was.”
“Can you tell us who first gave the warning that the house was on fire?”
“Yes.” Barclay fingered his watch fob, and crossed his legs. “Yes. It was the Japanese, Yoshida Ito.”
Penfield, as well as the jury and the reporters, eyed him in surprise.
“A Japanese?” repeated Penfield. “Was he a guest at the dinner?”
“No. He poked his head through the portières before the drawing room doorway, and shouted ‘Fire.’”
“Is this Yoshida Ito a servant?” asked Penfield, picking up a list of names from among his papers.
“No.”
“Then if he was neither a guest nor a servant, what was he doing in the Ogden house?” demanded the coroner sternly.
“I don’t know,” responded Barclay, his bewilderment written in his expression and gesture. “I found him in the house the night before the fire, and chased him out.”