“I always come that way. Why walk around the block?”
“But Mr. Arnesson was out this morning.”
Drukker nodded. “At the university.”
“And, finding Mr. Arnesson away, you sat for a while in the library with Professor Dillard, I understand, discussing an astronomical expedition to South America.”
“The expedition of the Royal Astronomical Society to Sobral to test the Einsteinian deflection,” amplified Drukker.
“How long were you in the library?”
“Less than half an hour.”
“And then?”
“I went down to the archery-room, and glanced at one of the magazines. There was a chess problem in it—a Zugszwang end-game that came up recently between Shapiro and Marshall—and I sat down and worked it out. . . .”
“Just a moment, Mr. Drukker.” A note of suppressed interest came into Vance’s voice. “You’re interested in chess?”