“And you were with her, I believe you stated, from eleven until one?”
“That is correct.”
“And was Mrs. Breedon the only witness to your presence at the sanitarium between those hours?”
“I am afraid that is so. You see, after ten o’clock at night I never ring the bell. I let myself in with my own key.”
“And I suppose that I may be permitted to question Mrs. Breedon?”
Doctor Lindquist was profoundly regretful.
“Mrs. Breedon is a very ill woman. She suffered a tremendous shock at the time of her husband’s death last summer, and has been practically in a semiconscious condition ever since. There are times when I even fear for her reason. The slightest disturbance or excitement might produce very serious results.”
He took a newspaper cutting from a gold-edged letter-case and handed it to Markham.
“You will observe that this obituary notice mentions her prostration and confinement in a private sanitarium. I have been her physician for years.”
Markham, after glancing at the cutting, handed it back. There was a short silence broken by a question from Vance.