“ ‘Rosmersholm,’ I believe. There’s a revival of Ibsen’s dramas at present in New York.”
Vance nodded. “Walter Hampden’s doing them.—Did you see either Mr. Arnesson or Miss Dillard after they returned from the theatre?”
“No; they came in rather late, I imagine. Belle told me this morning they went to the Plaza for supper after the play. However, Sigurd will be here at any minute, and you can learn the details from him.” Though the professor spoke with patience, it was plain that he was annoyed by the apparently irrelevant nature of the interrogation.
“Will you be good enough, sir,” pursued Vance, “to tell us the circumstances connected with Mr. Drukker’s and Mr. Pardee’s visit here after dinner?”
“There was nothing unusual about their call. They often drop in during the evening. The object of Drukker’s visit was to discuss with me the work he had done on his modification of the quantum theory; but when Pardee appeared the discussion was dropped. Pardee is a good mathematician, but advanced physics is beyond his depth.”
“Did either Mr. Drukker or Mr. Pardee see Miss Dillard before she went to the theatre?”
Professor Dillard took his pipe slowly from his mouth, and his expression became resentful.
“I must say,” he replied testily, “that I can see no valid object in my answering such questions.—However,” he added, in a more indulgent tone, “if the domestic trivia of my household can be of any possible assistance to you, I will of course be glad to go into detail.” He regarded Vance a moment. “Yes, both Drukker and Pardee saw Belle last night. All of us, including Sigurd, were together in this room for perhaps half an hour before theatre time. There was even a casual discussion about Ibsen’s genius, in which Drukker annoyed Sigurd greatly by maintaining Hauptmann’s superiority.”
“Then at eight o’clock, I gather, Mr. Arnesson and Miss Dillard departed, leaving you and Mr. Pardee and Mr. Drukker alone here.”
“That is correct.”