“Why, I suppose about the usual time, sir, five o’clock.” Wilkins hesitated. “I really don’t know the exact time because I didn’t see him go, sir.”
“Well, ask the other servants if they know, and then send me word. But don’t rouse comment by too many questions, Wilkins. I’ll make it worth your while if you get that information on the quiet.”
Wilkins hesitated a perceptible moment. “It wouldn’t be much use asking them, sir. Mr. Clark can run in and out of the house at any time,” he volunteered, finally. “He has a front door key. Mrs. Trevor said she couldn’t have the front bell rung so often, and asked the Attorney General to give him an extra key.”
Dick looked thoughtfully at Wilkins, but the butler’s expressionless face told him nothing.
“Was Mr. Clark with the Attorney General yesterday?”
“No, sir; I don’t think he has been to the house since Friday afternoon. I heard Mr. Trevor tell Miss Beatrice he had been called away on business.” He paused, and looked suggestively at the clock. Dick signed his note and hastily sealed the envelope. And he was on the point of handing it to the butler when Secretary Bowers’ advice about the missing memorandum book occurred to him.
“Can you tell me, Wilkins, how Mrs. Trevor and Miss Beatrice spent the afternoon of the third?”
“Yes, sir. Mrs. Trevor was at home receiving callers, for Wednesday is Cabinet Day, you know, sir. Mrs. Trevor never served refreshments except at private teas, so I spent the afternoon in the hall with the footman helping her guests with their coats and wraps. Miss Beatrice went out directly after luncheon and didn’t return until about five o’clock, sir.”
“Did she join her stepmother?”
“Not at once, sir; she first went into the private office and took off her wraps. After that she went into the drawing-room.”