“Did Patterson speak of meeting the Japanese on entering the house?”
“Not to me,” Barclay moved restlessly. “We talked of other topics.”
“Just one more question,” Penfield rose. “Did Patterson see Ito when the Japanese poked his head inside the portières and shouted, ‘Fire’?”
“He might easily have seen him,” exclaimed Barclay. “The drawing room doorway was directly behind Mrs. Leonard McLane; and Patterson and I sat on either side of her.”
“So that he could have seen the Japanese as readily as you?” Barclay nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Barclay, that is all,” and Barclay hastened from the room. Coroner Penfield leaned over and whispered a few words to the deputy coroner, and they were still talking when the Morgue Master showed Leonard McLane to the witness stand and administered the oath to him.
“Can you tell me, Dr. McLane, if you saw a Japanese, named Yoshida Ito in the Ogden house last night?” inquired Penfield, having previously asked him his name, occupation, and length of residence in Washington.
“I don’t believe I did,” answered McLane thoughtfully. “Great confusion prevailed however, and the smoke was dense at times; men, whom I took to be firemen, passed me on the staircase and in the upper hall, but I cannot swear to their identity.”
“Have you ever heard the name of Yoshida Ito before?”
“Yes,” and after a pause, McLane added, “In connection with the mysterious murder of my cousin, Dwight Tilghman. The inquest at Atlanta brought a verdict of guilty against him for that crime, but so far, the Japanese has escaped arrest.”
“Of course.” Penfield colored with mortification. “Ito’s name struck me as familiar, but I had for the moment forgotten where I had heard it.